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LENTENTIDE 


SERMONETTES. 


by 

JOSEPH A^EISS, D.D., LL.D., 

Pastor of the Church of the Holy Communion, Philadelphia. 


AUTHOR OF 

lectures on The Gospels and Epistles—The Apocalypse—Beacon 
Lights—Voices from Babylon, etc., etc. 





PHILADELPHIA : 

BOARD OF PUBLICATION 


OF THB 

(Ktiural Couiuil of ti)t ESbanjjtlual 3 tutf)tran Ctjurtt- 
No. 1522 Arch Street. 


1901. 












THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 
Two Copies Received 

JUL. 13 1901 

Copyright entry 
CLASS €Kj XXc. Nw. 
COPY B. 


Copyright Secured 
By JOSEPH A. SEISS. 
1901. 






PREFACE. 


TT is manifest, and much to be com- 
* mended, that there is a growing and 
widely extending attention given to Lent 
and Passiontide, even among those who 
do not conform to the Church Year in 
general. The propriety of it is so evi¬ 
dent, that it is becoming more and more 
appreciated and approved by serious-minded 
Christians. 

Along with this, it would seem de¬ 
sirable that proper helps to the profit¬ 
able observance of these times should be 
multiplied, and put within the reach of 
those who feel their need of them. 

The author of the following Sermon- 
ettes, partly from numerous and repeated 
solicitations, and partly from his personal 


3 



4 


PREFACE. 


desire to give others the benefit of pre¬ 
parations he has found useful in his own 
ministry, has been moved to submit them 
in this form to the Christian public. His 
prayer is, that God may bless them to 
the good of souls, and direct their destiny 
to His own most worthy praise. 

Philadelphia, 

Festival of the Ascension , igoi. 


CONTENTS 


i. 


THE LENTEN CALL. 

(Pp. 13-23.) 

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, 
and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and 
walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.— 
Jer. 6: 16. 


II. 


GOOD AND NO GOOD. 

(pp. 24-32.) 

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and Thou seest 
not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul and Thou 
takest no knowledge ?— Isa. 58 : 3 . 

III. 

THE TREACHEROUS AILMENT. 

(Pp. 33-4I-) 

I know you, that ye have not the love of God in 
you.—J no. 5 : 42. 


5 



6 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


IV. 


IS IT WELL WITH THY SOUL? 

(Pp. 42-48.) 

I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and 
be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.—3 John 2. 


V. 

THE REMEDY PROPOSED. 

(Pp. 49-55-) 

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins 
may be blotted out, when times of refreshing shall come 
from the presence of the Lord.— Acts 3: 19. 


VI. 

THE DANGEROUS WORLD. 

(Pp. 56-63-) 

Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present 
world.—2 Tim. 4-10. 


VII. 

THE PATHETIC INQUIRY 

(Pp. 64-70.) 

Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go 
away?—J ohn 6 : 67. 


CONTENTS. 


7 


VIII. 

HOW TO ESTIMATE THE MAN. 

(pp. 71-78.) 

As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.— Prov. 23 : 7. 


IX. 

THE EVIL AND BITTERNESS OF SIN. 

(Pp. 79-85.) 

Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and 
bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and 
that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord.— Jeremiah 
2: 19. 


X. 

SELF-CONFIDENCE OVERWHELMED. 


(Pp. 86-92.) 

I was alive without the law once: but when the com¬ 
mandment came, sin revived, and I died.— Rom. 7 : 9. 


XI. 


GRIEFS OF AN AWAKENED CONSCIENCE. 

(pp. 93-100.) 

O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me 
from the body of this death.— Rom. 7: 24. 


8 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


XII. 

THE HOPEFUL RESOLVE. 

(Pp. IOI-IIO.) 

I will arise and go to my father.— Luke 15: 18. 

XIII. 

THE WAY OF PARDON. 

(Pp. m-117.) 

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and 
He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He 
will abundantly pardon.— Isa. 55: 7. 

XIV. 

THE HELPFUL EXPEDIENT. 

(pp. 118-123.) 

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the 
Spirit.— Eph. 6 : 18. 


XV. 

THE COMFORTING PROMISE. 

(pp. 124-131.) 

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit 
will I put within you: I will take away the stony heart 
out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh.— 
Ezekiel 36: 26. 


CONTENTS. 


9 


XVI. 

WEAK FAITH REPROVED. 

(Pp. 132-139-) 

Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldst believe, 
thou shouldst see the glory of God?—J ohn ii: 40. 


XVII. 

THE HINDRANCE TO GRACE. 

(Pp. 140-145-) 

And He did not many mighty works there because of 
their unbelief.— Mark 13 : 58. 


XVIII. 

THE BLESSED ASSURANCE. 

(Pp. 146-150.) 

But as many as received Him, to them gave He 
power to become the sons of God, even to them that 
believe on His name. —John 1: 12. 


XIX. 

FAITH THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS. 

(Pp. 151-157-) 

According to your faith be it unto you.— Matt. 9: 29. 


10 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


XX. 

THE VITAL POINT. 

(Pp. 158-164.) 

Jesus said unto them, Do ye now believe?—J no, 16: 31. 


XXI. 

AN EFFECTUAL CALL. 

(Pp. 165-171.) 

Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I 
must abide at thy house.— Luke 19 f 5. 


XXII. 

THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER. 

(Pp. 172-179-) 

A bruised reed shall He not break,* and smoking flax 
shall He not quench.— Matt. 12: 20. 


XXIII. 

NEARNESS TO JESUS. 

(Pp. 180-184.) 

Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His 
disciples, whom Jesus loved.— John 13: 23. 


CONTENTS. 


II 


XXIV. 

THE MARKED PEOPLE. 

(Pp. 185-192.) 

But come not near any man upon whom is the mark 
—Ezekiel 9: 6. 


XXV. 

ENGRAVED IN HEAVEN. 

(Pp. 193-198) 

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my 
hands.— Isaiah 49: 16. 









Lenten Sermonettes. 


THE LENTEN CALL 

Jer. 6 : 1 6 . — Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, 
and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good 
way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your 
souls. 

W HEN the prophet first spoke these words 
there was great spiritual decay in 
Israel. The people had become careless, 
worldly, and dull in their religious feelings and 
duties. From the king to the lowest subject, 
there was a sad sinking away from faith and 
righteousness. So neglectful and indifferent 
had they become that Jerusalem was widowed, 
and the temple like an old forsaken lodge. 
There needed to be a renewal of spiritual life, 
or all standing with God would be forfeited. 
Accordingly, Jeremiah was commissioned to 
deliver this message to the people. 

The first requirement was the calling of a 
halt to the ordinary drift of things. And this 

is just what the season of Lent is meant to do 

13 



14 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

for us. It comes to make a serious break in 
the ordinary course of our feelings, thoughts, 
and manner of life, that we may look about us, 
and take account of our situation. The onward 
rush of worldliness, yanity, and carnal indul¬ 
gences, is to be moderated, slackened, and re¬ 
duced to some degree of quietness, that the 
soul may take knowledge of itself, and our 
better nature allowed a chance to speak. Be 
we sinners or saints, faithful servants or guilty 
backsliders, the word is the same ; that we rein 
up for a little season to observe, consider, and 
take our bearings, that we may know where we 
are, and how to direct ourselves for the future. 

It is a great thing to get people to stop and 
think. Half the ill and unrighteousness in the 
world would be cured, if we could only get 
men to stop and think. Hence the demand of 
God to His wayward people: “Stand ye in the 
ways and see." 

“And see.” That is another important item. 
Some may stop, and look, but fail to see. 
Their vision is distorted by their preferences 
and prevailing customs; or they do not look at 
things in the right light; or their hearts are 
so pre-occupied that their spiritual perception 
is obscured. Human nature is always reluct- 


THE LENTEN CALL. 


15 


ant to hear of or admit its deficiencies, and 
is full of excuses and apologies for them. 
There is a disposition also to hide away from 
what uncovers defects. u Every one that doeth 
evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the 
light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” To 
know the real crookedness of our ways we 
must honestly look at them in the light of 
God’s word and law, and face the facts as 
they are. 

There can be no doubt that we are all sin¬ 
ful. We cannot conceal this from ourselves, 
even if we would. We cannot be honest and 
not admit that we have done many things 
which we ought not to have done, and left 
undone much that we should have done. We 
are all worse than we think. If God were 
strict to mark one sin of a thousand against 
us, we could not stand for a moment. And 
God would have us look and see just where 
and what we really are. 

Furthermore, we are to “ ask for the old 
paths" There is a way which seemeth right 
unto a man, the end whereof is death. We 
cannot trust to our own thoughts or fancies. 
The Scriptures tell us, “he that trusteth in 
his own heart is a fool.” No wisdom of ours 


16 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

can show us the way of life. We must ask , 
in order to find the proper paths. 

Fortunately, there are those at hand of whom 
we can ask ; not erring men, as unenlightened 
as ourselves, but men whom God raised up 
and stationed in the midst of the world as His 
witnesses. We have the testimony of the 
apostles and prophets, and the records of saints 
in every age. We know the faith of Abel, 
and Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and 
Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses, and 
Joshua, and David, and Samuel, and hundreds 
more, of whom the world was not worthy, 
whose example and teachings we may consult, 
and learn the way they trod. And, since 
their times, we have the still more illustrious 
example and teachings of Jesus, who is Him¬ 
self the Way, the Truth, and the Fife. We 
have moreover His living Church, whose office 
it is to point out the way that leadeth unto 
life. 

The direction is for us to ask of these; 
which means, of course, a willingness and 
desire to hear them. If unwilling to learn, 
and take instruction, we can only wander in 
uncertainty; and the chances are that we shall 
never find the way to salvation. 


THE LENTEN CALL. 


17 


Some are prone to think that the world has 
grown so much that we are now quite beyond 
the sainted fathers, and have no more need of 
the clothes they wore. In affairs of this 
world, knowledge has increased, and made some 
marvellous advances. But human nature is 
the same, and its wants and weaknesses are 
the same. Not a faculty has been added; not 
a necessity has been eliminated. There is no 
way of pleasing God now different from that 
by which the ancient worthies reached their 
heavenly homes. What was ruinous vice and 
sin in former times, is the same evil thing it 
ever was. Worldliness and piety have not 
exchanged places, nor modern genius bridged 
the gulf between the service of God and the 
service of Mammon. Nobody can get to 
heaven any easier because we have Pullman 
cars to ride in, telegraphs to send messages 
ahead, gas and electricity to make our nights 
luminous, machines to work in place of hands, 
and fortunes so much bigger than our fathers 
had. The world indeed has become a more 
inviting place in which to live, with more 
facilities for enjoyment, more gilding of vice, 
more wrapping up of sin in a show of gen¬ 
tility ; but hence only the more treacherous 


18 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

to man’s truer interests, and the more likely 
to beguile people to their ruin. All the 
greater, therefore, is our need to “ask for the 
old paths.” And our Eenten observance will 
fail of one of its chief ends, if it does not 
bring us to new and prayerful study and ask¬ 
ing for the old paths, where is the good way. 

And having learned the way, the next thing 
is to “ walk therein .” A path, however good, 
is of no use to us if we do not travel it. 
Even u faith without works is dead.” We 
need to know, and feel, and consent ; but it 
amounts to nothing if we do not act accord¬ 
ingly. 

The direction is to “ walk therein;”—not 
run. Sudden haste or spurt never promises 
well. A hurried gait cannot be kept up. 
Overwrought enthusiasm soon flags, discour¬ 
agement comes, and failure is apt to follow. 
There needs to be deliberation, and the calm 
and thoughtful moulding of our ways and 
doings. 

And to walk in the “ good way ” calls for 
an humbling sense of our faults and sinfulness. 
We belong to a corrupt race, and we need to 
know, feel, confess, and honestly lament the 
evil that is in us. Thus Job said, “I have 


THE LENTEN CALL. 


19 


sinned ; . . . wherefore I abhor myself, and 
repent in dust and ashes.” Thus David con¬ 
fessed and lamented : “ I acknowledge my 
transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 
Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and 
done evil in Thy sight.” So Isaiah cried: 
“Woe is me ! for I am undone ; because I am 
a man of unclean lips.” So Peter fell down 
at Jesus* knees, saying, “I am a sinful man, 
O Lord.” And “if any man say he hath no 
sin, he deceiveth himself, and the truth is not 
in him.** Therefore we need to think of this, 
and to realize, not how good we are, but how 
faulty, impure, and sinful we are. 

No works or virtues of ours can recommend 
us to the divine favor, and no will-worship or 
goodishness of our devising can ever lift us 
out of our merited condemnation; but there 
is forgiveness in Jesus. He came to put away 
sin—to make propitiation for it “ by the 
sacrifice of himselfV Nor is there any sal¬ 
vation for sinners, such as we, except “through 
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom 
God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
through faith in His blood, to declare His 
righteousness for the remission of sins.’* Hence 
Paul thanked God for deliverance “ through 


20 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


Jesus Christ.” And the same faith and hope 
had all the saints from the beginning, first 
through types and shadows, and then by the 
believing embrace of Him in whom those 
types and shadows were fulfilled and super¬ 
seded. We are not therefore without recourse 
in our guilt. Jesus is the hope of sinful 
mortals. And on Him and His atoning sacri¬ 
fice we should fix our contemplations and our 
trust in trying to walk the path trodden by 
the saints. 

But trusting in Christ includes obedience to 
Him. He has appointed ordinances to be ob¬ 
served. He has constituted a Church, a fellow¬ 
ship of believers, a commonwealth of saints, 
of which we need to be honest and faithful 
members, doing for its welfare, sustenance and 
extension. He has given us spheres and 
stations in life, and we must be industrious 
and true in them, and meet their duties, as 
part of our mission in this world. We know 
with what spiritual devotion Enoch ‘ ‘ walked 
with God.” We know how faithful Moses 
was in all his house. We know how Job 
feared God, eschewed evil, and persisted in 
blessing and honoring his Maker in the midst 
of all his bereavements and trials. We know 


THE LENTEN CALL. 


21 


after what manner Paul served the Lord, 
amid many tears and temptations, suffering 
nothing to move him from his steadfast devo-. 
tion. And if we would walk in the same 
paths, we dare count nothing too hard or too 
precious to be given to the service of Him 
who is everything to us. We need therefore 
to bring ourselves to account before God, as 
to how we have been fulfilling these require¬ 
ments ; for the careful and devout observance 
of them marks the true believer. 

Walking also implies advancement and pro¬ 
gress. It is not enough to get upon the road. 
A little round of ceremonies is not enough. 
Having found the right way, we must “walk 
therein .” Progress is required. We must 
move on. We dare not rest content with past 
or present attainments. Religion has ever 
fresh calls upon us, and we must never be¬ 
come discouraged, or think that now we can 
lay by and take our ease. Onward, ever on¬ 
ward, is the command of the Master. It 
therefore belongs to us to consider what pro¬ 
gress we are making, what more and better 
we are this year than the last, and how to do 
better for the future. 

Nor is it unreasonable that we should thus 


22 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


dispose and direct ourselves. It is the good 
way. It is the way to find rest for our souls. 
There is comfort and blessing in it. Wisdom’s 
ways are pleasantness, and all her paths are 
peace—peace to the conscience, peace to the 
soul. What a joy to know that we are in the 
right way—the way to God and salvation ! 
What a consolation to know that Jesus has 
taken away the writing of condemnation that 
was against us, nailing it to His cross ! What 
a heavenly peace is in the thought that our 
sins are covered, and that, through faith in 
Jesus, we have been taken up into the goodly 
fellowship of the saints ! What a joy to be 
able to make some returns of love and service 
to the good Lord who deals so graciously 
with us! Though we may have but little 
satisfaction from this world, still, the declara¬ 
tion holds true, that “ the work of righteous¬ 
ness is peace, and the effect of righteousness, 
quietness and assurance for ever.” The pro¬ 
mise is distinct and positive, that those who 
walk in the good way, shall find rest. For all 
the toil, anxiety, self-denial, sacrifices, and 
trials of this present life, there is pledged to 
the dutiful and believing an ample recom¬ 
pense of reward. A sublime and everlasting 


THE LENTEN CALL. 


23 


rest remains for all God’s people, which will 
amply compensate for all our losses and crossed 
in this world. 

This then is the will and word of the Lord, 
M Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for 
the old paths, where is the good way, and 
walk therein ; and ye shall find rest for your 
souls.” 

Dear Saviour, in Thy bosom hide me, 

There make the weary wanderer blest; 

In all the world there’s none beside Thee 
To give my soul the longed-for rest. 

Dear Jesus, I would come to Thee, 

Be thine throughout eternity. 


GOOD AND NO GOOD. 


Isa. 58: 3. —Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and 
Thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul 
and Thou takest no knowledge? 

HESE words give proof that there may be 



1 punctuality in observing the ceremonies 
of religion without deriving any good from it. 
So it was with the people here referred to. But 
the fault was with themselves. God says of 
them: that they accompanied their devotions 
with a worldly spirit, and with an uncharita¬ 
ble heart. They fasted; but it was not the 
sort of fast God has chosen. There was ab¬ 
stinence from meat, but no reform of life. 
There was therefore no profit in their devo¬ 


tions. 


And now that we have come once more to 
our special Lenten services, it may be well 
for us to consider, seriously, what is involved, 
that we may not go through these appoint¬ 
ments as fruitlessly as did these people of 
Isaiah’s time; for like mistakes must bring 
forth like consequences. 


GOOD AND NO GOOD. 25 

In order then to keep a proper and profit¬ 
able Lent, it is important for us to note: 

I. What we should not , do; 

II. What we may and should do. 


I. 

Among the things we ought not to do, I 
would say,— 

1. Don’t make the mistake of supposing, 
that, because Lent has no specific divine ap¬ 
pointment, it makes no difference whether we 
observe it or not. Everything that enters 
into a right Lent certainly is of divine ap¬ 
pointment, and the setting apart of a time 
for special attention to these divine require¬ 
ments, cannot be otherwise than proper and 
right. All give assent to this principle, 
whether accustomed to observe Lent or not. 
And if people are indifferent about their at¬ 
tention to these sacred duties at the appointed 
times, the probabilities are that they will not 
be half attended to at any other time. There¬ 
fore, do not think that you can do as well 
without these services as with them. 

2. If you propose to observe Lent in any 
way, don’t make a show of it. Jesus says, 
“When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as 


26 


lententide sermonettes. 


the hypocrites : for they love to pray standing 
in the synagogues and in the corners of the 
streets, that they may be seen of men . . 

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypo¬ 
crites, of a sad countenance: for they dis¬ 
figure their faces, that they may appear unto 
men to fast. But thou, when thou fastest, 
anoint thine head and wash thy face, that 
thou appear not unto men to fast.” Lent is 
not for spectacular exhibition. Therefore don’t 
use it in that way. 

3. And if you have tasked yourself to at¬ 
tend dutifully to everything that can be 
asked or expected, don’t dwell on it as a 
thing of merit to recommend you to God’s 
favor. When people begin to count up how 
much they do, and give, and fast, and deny 
themselves, and are led to think they are 
so much better than other people, they are 
not on the right way. This alone puts a 
dead fly in the most excellent ointment. There¬ 
fore guard against it. 

These, then, are the things to be avoided. 
II. 

Among the things we ought to do, and 
which we may do, the first I name is : 


GOOD AND NO GOOD. 


2 7 


I. To give attention to the Lenten services. 
Have regard to the fact that it is Lent—a 
season of service appointed by the Church 
many ages back, as a proper and valuable 
thing for the deepening and development of 
spiritual life and experience. Public and 
special prayers are always helpful, and they 
should be observed. No small considerations 
should prevent attendance upon them. 

Lent is something of a test of our earnest¬ 
ness in our religion. It helps to reveal 
whether people think more of their home, 
convenience, their business, or their own likes, 
preferences and pleasures, than the giving 
of a little extra time to the things of God 
and the soul. Sunday does not make the 
same test, for that is always an off day. 
Lent comes upon us in our secular occupa¬ 
tions, and asks, Will you let go your ordi¬ 
nary engagements for this little while for 
your soul’s sake ? And if a Christian is not 
willing to forego a little worldly care and 
convenience for a few hours’ extra religious 
service when the appropriate time for it 
comes, it does not speak well for the sin¬ 
cerity of his piety. People readily devote 
vastly more time and expense to sheer vanity 


28 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

and carnal pleasure. They can easily manage 
to attend to outside things, and think it no 
harm to their business, and why not to help 
their souls heavenward? 

2. Attend upon these Lenten services with 
a sincere, devout and earnest spirit. This 
can be, and ought to be. The outward observ¬ 
ance is necessary, for in this world we can¬ 
not have the spirit without the body; but 
the outward formalities are nothing without 
the inward spirit. Therefore take firm hold 
according to the intention, and make earnest 
use of the occasion for the purposes in con¬ 
templation. 

Some such breaks in the ordinary course 
and routine of our lives are necessary. Our 
spiritual welfare requires some such special times 
and seasons. We must now and then force 
ourselves to halt a bit, to think of our past 
hours, to ask them what report they’ve borne 
to heaven, and how they might have borne 
more welcome news. People have to do the 
like in their worldly business, and why not 
in this, which is so transcendantly more im¬ 
portant ? 

And when such times are duly appointed, 
the special aid of the Church offered, and the 


GOOD AND NO GOOD. 


2 9 


call to such exercises is distinct and clear, 
there should be, not only a ready outward 
response, but a sincere and devout earnest¬ 
ness to profit by them to the full. A 
religion without zeal in it is of but little 
worth. 

3. Make Lenten time a genuine repenting 
time. We all have more sins upon us than 
we can enumerate or know. We may think 
we have been living very morally, when the 
heart has been full of unbelief, selfishness, 
fleshly lust, uncharitableness, covetous desires, 
and many faulty affections. We need there¬ 
fore to bring ourselves to strict account, that 
we may better our lives. Nor is it enough 
to lament our defects and sins, and then to 
go on in the same old way. This is just what 
these people did in Isaiah’s time, with whom 
God was so sickened and offended. Genuine 
repentance means reform and improvement. 
It is such a sense of sin and guilt as begets 
serious endeavor after a better life. Three 
things belong to it: First , to stop doing 
wrong; second , to turn around and look back; 
and third , to go back in every instance to 
the point at which we began to deflect from 
the right, resolved by God’s grace to do bet- 


30 


EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


ter. This is what God demands of us at all 
times, but especially in these Lenten times. 
And the way to make the best of it is to 
imitate the prodigal son when he came to 
himself, and say, “I will arise, and go to 
my father.” 

4. And yet one further thing we ought to 
do for a profitable Lent, is, to accompany it 
with some personal sacrifices and self-denial 
in token of our sincerity in the matter. It 
may be in fasting, in abstemiousness from 
our accustomed diet, in the devotion of our 
energies to some special work of mercy or 
goodness, by tasking ourselves in a way to 
mortify our likes and carnal desires, or the 
undertaking of something extra for God, His 
Church, His people, and His poor. 

The great fault God found with the cere¬ 
monial observances of these people in Isaiah’s 
time was that, with all their devotion and 
fasting, they were careful to consult and fol¬ 
low their own convenience and pleasure, and 
still adhered to their old greed and self-in¬ 
dulgence. What He required of them for an 
acceptable fast was to turn away from doing 
their own pleasure, and from the following 
of their own ways, and to refrain their 


GOOD AND NO GOOD. 31 

tongues from speaking their own words. For 
where there is no self-denial, no self-taxation, 
no mortifying of our members which are on 
earth, no subjugation of the natural man to 
the things of the spirit, there is no heart- 
earnestness of piety, no proper Lent. 

Some one has said that benevolent giving 
never reaches its full measure until we give 
so as to feel it. And it is the v same in the 
case before us. There is no effectual self- 
denial which does not go far enough for us 
to feel it. To let off a few things we would 
never miss, and to do what is no sort 
of cost or inconvenience to us is no self- 
denial. 

And with the mortification of our own 
pleasure and convenience, the good and bene¬ 
fit of others must also be taken in. God in 
this case speaks of helping the needy, dealing 
bread to the hungry, considering the poor, 
clothing the naked, and the cherishing of a 
feeling of brotherhood toward all our fellow 
men. And a very proper thing for Lenten 
observance would be for each to keep a 
special purse for God and charity, and to 
put into it each day what faith and love 
may prompt. 


32 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


And to all this the word is, “Then shalt 
thou call, and the Lord shall answer thee . . . 
Then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and 
thy darkness be as the noonday . . . And 

thou shalt be as a watered garden.” 

Lord, when we bend before Thy throne, 

And our confessions pour, 

Teach us to feel the sins we own, 

And hate what we deplore. 


THE TREACHEROUS AILMENT. 


Jno. 5 : 42.—I know you, that ye have not the love of 
God in you. 

I T is a beautiful thing to love God. It 
would also seem to be a very easy thing. 
But human nature is greatly perverted, and 
true love to God is not general. Even 
among those who are called God’s people, 
there are many who have not the love of 
God in them. 

No people ever made higher professions 
of religion and sanctity than the Pharisees. 
None valued themselves more upon their op¬ 
portunities of knowing God, or their perfec¬ 
tion in the keeping of His commandments. 
And yet the holy Jesus says to them, “I 
know you , that ye have not the love of God 
in you.” 

And what was true of the ancient Phari¬ 
sees, is true of many others; perhaps of some 
of us. I would fain have it, that we who agree 
in so many things—we who together worship 
in the same sanctuary, sing God’s praise to¬ 
gether, call upon His name together, hear 
3 33 


34 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

His word together, should also be one in 
loving God. But if Jesus were to come into 
this house now, or any Lord’s day, we have 
reason to fear that He would say to some, 
“/ know you , that ye have not the love of 
God in you.” 

I. What , then, are the grounds for this 
fear ? 

i. The first I mention is the spirit of 
worldliness manifested by many church people. 
According to the teachings of Christ and His 
apostles, the joining of the Church was a 
renunciation of the world, with its pomps 
and vanities; but it would not be difficult 
now to find about as much worldliness in the 
Church as out of it,—the same extravagance,— 
the same devotion to fashion,—the same con¬ 
cern for appearances,—the same love of riches, 
honor, and position,—the same grasping spirit 
of covetousness, which is idolatry. Ambition, 
pride, and the veriest folly rear themselves 
aloft, even in our sacred assemblies, and con¬ 
trol multitudes of professing Christians. And 
when we look at this and consider that “all 
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, 
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of 
life, is not of the Father,” and that “if any 


THE TREACHEROUS AILMENT. 35 

man love the world, the love of the Father 
is not in him; ” what are we to think, but 
that many in the Church are most likely 
strangers to true piety, and have not the 
love of God in them. 

2. The same suspicion arises from the slug¬ 
gish, slavish, and reluctant manner in which 
many deal towards the means of grace and 
holy things. Take, for instance, God’s holy 
book,—the blessed Bible,—a wonderful, beauti¬ 
ful, precious book, worth more than all 
books, in which alone is shown the way to 
eternal life. But how few care for it ! How 
many quite neglect it ! May not God say of 
multitudes now, as He said of some of old, 
“ I have written to them the great things of 
my law, but they were counted as a strange 
thing ! ” The lazy Mahometan will yet learn 
his Koran, and memorize its silly chapters; 
but people with God’s own book in their 
hands, and pretending to draw all their im¬ 
mortal hopes from it, often leave it unread, 
and turn to supercillious science, or empty 
novels in its stead. Can children really love 
a parent whose last will and testament they 
treat as antiquated rubbish ? 

Prayer is another blessed privilege which 


36 eententide sermonettes. 

has been the delight and strength of God’s 
saints in all ages. It is the vital breath of 
all spiritual life. Yet, many are dreaming of 
a home in heaven, who have no relish for 
prayer, and hardly pray at all, except when 
pressed with sudden fear, or seized with crush¬ 
ing troubles! 

The public worship of God, is a refresh¬ 
ing thing to a right soul. “ I was glad,” 
said the Psalmist, “when they said unto me, 
let us go into the house of the Lord.” But 
what multitudes prefer almost anything to 
these assemblies of the saints; and deem it a 
drudgery to come even once a week where 
the great God has promised to meet and 
bless His people ! The opera, the social party, 
the theatre, the place of gayety and frolic; 
these can command attention and interest; 
but how dull and indisposed are many when 
the services of God’s house call for their pres¬ 
ence. 

A great thing is the holy Sacrament. But, 
if going to the Lord’s Supper were a going to 
the stake to die, there could hardly be more 
shrinking and hesitancy than many so-called 
Christians show with regard to it. And how 
many of those who appear at this sacred feast 


THE TREACHEROUS AILMENT. 37 

do it simply because they think they must? 
How can the love of God be in such ! 

3. Once more, we must conclude that many 
have not the love of God in them, from the 
sad defections and apostacies constantly occur¬ 
ring even among those who seem to be of 
the better sort of Christians. How often has 
it happened that people, who seemed to be 
among the most devoted disciples of Jesus, in 
time of trial turned out to be the veriest 
scoundrels ! 

You have seen the young man very zealous 
for his Lord, and pointed to as a pattern of 
devotion, piety and virtue, gradually relax 
his fervor, and lessen his activity, and drop 
off from his attentions to duty, seldom seen 
any more in the church, and caring nothing 
for what he once seemed so much to love. 

You have seen the poor man in his daily 
toil, apparently walking humbly with his God; 
but when the tide of fortune came and gave 
him riches, or advanced him to place, influ¬ 
ence and distinction, he forgot his church and 
pious associations, and gave up to pride, 
covetousness and every foolish vanity. 

And when we consider the number of such 
instances, and remember that even the little 


38 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

company gathered by Christ Himself had a 
Judas in it, we are forced to the sorrowful 
conclusion that there are many seeming Chris¬ 
tians who have not the love of God in them. 

We do not know who they are. But there 
is One who knows, even He who will ere 
long separate the chaff from the wheat. And 
what if He should then say to some of us, 
“/ know you, that ye have not the love of God 
in you.” Think of the startling possibility, 
and let each one ask himself, “Lord, is it I?” 
“Is it I?” 

II. What then is to be done? First of all, 
if you have reason to suspect yourself, don't 
try to hide it, or to apologise for it. If your 
suspicion has foundation, God knows it. You 
cannot conceal it from Him, and your apolo¬ 
gies cannot alter His judgment of you- 
Though it should be a hard, distressing, and 
humiliating admission, better make it, than 
deceive yourself. The true decision must be 
made some day; and the fact will come out, 
no matter what you may do to conceal it. 
And it is far better to acknowledge it while 
a Saviour waits to be gracious, than to have 
it forced upon you when there is no more 
remedy, and no more hope. 


THE TREACHEROUS AILMENT. 39 

In the next place take your case at once 
solemnly before God . Lift your heart to Him 
and say—“ Here am I, Lord, sitting in Thy 
house, listening to Thy word, marked as one 
of Thy disciples, and yet I have not Thy' 
love in me ! Here is my soul, made to know 
and love. Thee, given by Thy sublime good¬ 
ness to be a reflection of Thy love, yet it 
has never loved Thee! Thou art my Father; 
Thou hast made me and surrounded me with 
blessings; Thou hast given Thy Son to re¬ 
deem me, Thou hast called me to be Thy 
child and heir; yet I have not answered to 
Thy goodness, and have not loved Thee. 
Thy vows are upon me; I have stood up be¬ 
fore Thine altar and sworn allegiance to 
Thee; I have had my name recorded among 
those of Thy saints; and yet I have not Thy 
love in me! ” It is indeed a sad report for 
one to carry to his Maker; but, if it is the 
true report, let it be made. 

And to this let there be joined contrition 
and self-abasement . A soul that has not the 
love of God in it, is very delinquent and 
guilty; and it is for such a soul to lament 
its defects, and to loathe itself for its base¬ 
ness. And if you have not the love of 


40 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

God in you, be ashamed of it before 
God and angels. Humble yourself in the 
dust. Say in your heart,—“O what a soul 
is mine, that can love vanities, trifles, im¬ 
purity, sin, anything, but God and His 
Christ ! ” 

In the next place, bring distinctly before 
you the bar oj judgment where we must all 
soon appear . Think how it will be with a 
soul at that stern tribunal, if it has not the 
love of God in it. Think how it would be 
if that soul should be yourself! 

But while you tremble at the prospect, be 
not overwhelmed with despair. A gracious 
and mighty Saviour still stands between you 
and the final condemnation. Your sins are 
not so great but His righteousness can cover 
them. Your iniquities are not of so deep a 
dye, but His blood can wash them out. 
Your heart is not so cold and frozen, but 
His love can warm it to a flame. You are 
not so far gone, but He can save you. Sor¬ 
row for your sad estate. Weep for your de¬ 
linquencies, weep bitterly, and repent in dust 
and ashes; but through your tears look to 
Calvary, and see the burden of your guilt 
hung on that cross, and the sweet words of 


THE TREACHEROUS AILMENT. 


41 


pardon issuing from the loving Saviour’s lips, 
“Be not afraid, only believe.” 

One word more. I have been speaking of 
those who are nominally Christians,—their de¬ 
ficiencies, their dangers, and the reasons for 
their anxiety lest they should come short of 
heaven. But if professing Christians need to 
be thus admonished, and those who have the 
vows of Christianity on them, are in such 
danger of failure, what hope is there for those 
who have never taken a single step towards 
their salvation ? If judgment must begin at 
the house of God, what shall the end be of 
them that are total outsiders, and have no 
part or lot in these things? “If the right¬ 
eous scarcely be saved, where shall the un¬ 
godly and the sinner appear?” 

Do not I love Thee, O my Lord? 

Behold my heart and see; 

And cast each idol from its throne, 

That dares to rival Thee. 


IS IT WELL WITH THY SOUL? 


3 John, v. 2.—I wish above all things that thou mayest 
prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 

H EAL/TH and prosperity are great bless¬ 
ings. Without health we do not half 
live; and without thrift and prosperity the en¬ 
joyment of life is much disabled. 

But there is a soul health and prosperity, as 
well as that of the body. The Apostle de¬ 
scribes a high degree of this to Gaius, to whom 
he wrote this Epistle;—so high a degree, that 
he made it the standard of his apostolic wish 
concerning the bodily health and outward pros¬ 
perity of his friend. 

The soul is the best and sublimest part of 
man; and soul-health is the most important 
and desirable of all health and prosperity. It 
is therefore a matter of great moment for us 
to look after our own condition in this regard. 
We are all connected with a diseased and 
fallen race. A common taint, bias, or ten¬ 
dency to sin and death is upon our nature 
from our birth. In some it has worked itself 


42 


IS IT WELL WITH THY SOUL? 43 

out into worse forms than in others; but in all 
of us it exists, and needs special treatment to 
be cured. Some, by the grace of God, are to a 
great extent relieved. Others are partially con¬ 
valescent. While a third class are still in bad 
spiritual health. We need, therefore, to be 
awake on the subject, and to inquire and learn 
how it is with us, so as not to think all is 
well while faith may be dying and eternal 
death threatens. 

What, then, are the symptoms by which to 
be able to judge rightly in the case? 

A well and hearty man has a good appetite. 
When one ceases to care for food, and is sick¬ 
ened by it, there is something wrong with 
him. And so in spiritual things. The food of 
the soul is Christ. He is that living Bread 
which came down from heaven. We find Him 
in His House, in His Word, and in His 
Sacraments. And as our faith apprehends, 
approaches, and feeds on Him, we become 
spiritually helped, healed and strong. If we 
are indifferent touching these things, lack in 
relish for them, and find ourselves disposed to 
turn away from them, our spiritual condition 
is bad, and we are not in proper soul-health. 
It is an ill sign when prayer, religious services, 


44 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


and religious duties become irksome, uninvit¬ 
ing, and unpalatable. 

A sound and healthy man is wakeful, active, 
courageous, and dutiful. A man only half- 
alive, feeble, drowsy, and inactive, is spiritually 
unsound. 

The Christian who shows no life, no spirit, 
in the affairs of religion is in poor health. 
Christ has called us to be workers for Him ; to 
show pluck and vigor in our profession; to 
combat falsehood, evil and unbelief; to serve as 
good soldiers of the Cross. Those who only loll 
and luxuriate in Gospel privileges and bless¬ 
ings, never doing anything for the Church’s 
support and extension, and always ready with 
excuses when there is work to be done, are 
very invalid Christians. If they have any real 
spiritual life in them, it is a very infirm, mean, 
and unsatisfactory life. Their soul health is 
bad. They may think well of themselves ; but 
they are bed-ridden invalids, who must be 
waited on, nursed and served by others, and 
whose demands and requirements make things 
all the harder for those in better health. In 
spirit they are not well, and should not think 
they are. 

Soul-health means also soul-strength. Some 


IS IT WELL WITH THY SOUL? 45 

are naturally stronger than others ; but where 
there is no vigor of faith, no firm conviction, 
no competent and confident knowledge of the 
truth, no courage to confess and defend it 
against the sneers and frowns of unbelievers, 
spiritual health is infirm. Paul required of his 
converts to cultivate strength in the inner man; 
to be decided, positive, vigorous, and unflinch¬ 
ing in their Christian profession, so as not to be 
shaken and driven about by every wind of 
doctrine, or led astray by the cunning crafti¬ 
ness of men. A sound Christian, takes unto 
him the whole armor of God, so as to be able 
to stand in the evil day, and having done all 
to stand. And the absence of a well-deter¬ 
mined will and purpose, shows a weak soul, if 
not a very sickly one. 

What, then, are those to do, who find that 
they are spiritual invalids? It is necessary for 
them to do something, or there is very little 
hope for them. 

Sick people need the physician; and there is 
but one Physician can cure the sin-sick soul. 
Many try to doctor themselves, with reforms, 
charities, and goodishness of their own selec¬ 
tion or invention, hoping that their benevo¬ 
lent doings will take them to heaven. Others 


46 LENTENTIDE sermonettes. 

betake themselves to quacks, and ignorant pre¬ 
tenders, who are in the dark as to their own 
hopeless condition. But there is no cure for 
ailing souls, save through Jesus Christ. To 
Him we must go. In Him we must confide. 
His directions we must honor and obey. Other¬ 
wise all is hopeless. 

Fortunately, He is within easy reach. His 
treatment is free. He is ready to receive and 
help every one that comes. And none can 
ever die who apply to Him, take His remedies, 
and follow His directions. But there must be 
confidence in Him, and honest taking of His 
prescriptions. These are not agreeable to 
carnal tastes. It is a bitter potion to have to 
condemn, regret, and abandon one’s past life. 
The first word from this great Physician to 
every one is, Repent; which is never a pleasant 
thing. But it must be. Sins, to be forgiven, 
must be acknowledged, lamented, and re¬ 
nounced. Christ’s blood cleanseth from all sin, 
provided, however, that it is sincerely deplored 
and honestly forsaken. 

Along with this there is to be active exer¬ 
cise. There must be prayer; there must be 
Baptism ; there must be confession of Christ 
before men; there must be imitation of His 


IS IT WELL WITH THY SOUL? 47 

spirit, a walking in His steps, and an honoring 
of His Church, Word, and ordinances. These 
are all prescribed by Christ Himself, and not 
one of them can be safely omitted or neglected. 

Physical health demands effort and manly 
activity; and soul-health requires the same. 
We need to acquire grit and muscle in sacred 
things, which can only be by continuous exer¬ 
cise in them. We must move out into the 
open air, and the bright sunshine of Christian 
endeavor, and learn to stir our blood, and task 
our strength, and keep on in earnest discipline 
of heart and mind, to become strong in the 
Lord. We must add to our faith virtue ; and 
to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, tem¬ 
perance ; and to temperance, patience ; and to 
patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly 
kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity; 
and thus build up the soul in strength and 
righteousness. Faith without works is dead, 
being alone. A limb never exercised withers 
and becomes worthless. And a soul without 
activity in spiritual duty, is sickly, imbecile, 
and eventually will die. 

Dear friends, it is a blessed thing that there 
is this remedy and cure for ailing souls. Sad 
would be our estate if it were not so. But 


48 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

healing is provided. It is brought to us in the 
Gospel. It is freely offered for the taking. 
With all the drawbacks which embarrass and 
afflict our unbelieving times, there is abundant 
life, health, and salvation in Jesus, if we but 
accept and follow Him. And may the good 
Lord so help us, that, above all things, our 
souls may prosper and be in health. 

What cheering words are these! 

Their sweetness who can tell? 

In time, and to eternal days, 

’Tis with the righteous well. 


THE REMEDY PROPOSED. 


Acts 3: 19. —Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that 
your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing 
shall come from the presence of the Lord. 



HESE words of the Apostle Peter to the 


1 Jewish people, who had so large a share 
in the great crime of the crucifixion of the 
Christ, present three things: 

I. Certain Conditions to be fulfilled; 

II. Certain Blessings thereupon to follow; 

III. Certain Times when these blessings are 
to be realized. 

The conditions to be fulfilled are denoted by 
the two words, “ Repent,” and “ Converted.” 
The one means to be penitent; that is, con¬ 
scious of sin, and sensible of the guilt of it, the 
evil of it, and the condemnation due to it,— 
grieved and sorry for it, with the mind so 
changed as to lament, hate, and abhor, what 
was formerly so readily accepted, done, or in¬ 
dulged. It is what these people experienced, 
when “they were pricked in their heart, and 
said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, 
Men and brethren, what shall we do?” They 


49 


4 


50 lententide sermonettes. 

were suddenly made to see and feel that they 
were verily guilty of the murder of their own 
Messiah, and so, of blasphemy and treason as 
well. They thus found themselves in desperate 
condition of spiritual perplexity. They could 
not deny their sin, and felt themselves under a 
just and terrible condemnation. Their whole 
mind with reference to Jesus, to themselves, and 
to their doings, was so changed that they now 
were full of horror and distress on account of 
their sin. What were they to do? How were 
they to escape deserved damnation, for such 
wickedness as was justly charged against them? 
This was now the great burden of their souls. 
And in this state of mind we see a state of 
penitence. 

But that alone was not enough. Hence the 
further word, “Be converted .” As Repentance 
is an inward change of mind, Conversion is a 
corresponding outward change of life,—a turn¬ 
ing from the old false way to an entirely new 
beginning. In their case, it was the relinquish¬ 
ment of Jewish Phariseeism and unbelief, for 
Christian faith and obedience,—a moral revolu¬ 
tion, further illustrated in the direction of the 
Apostle when he said to these convicted and 
distressed people, “Be baptized, every one of 


THE REMEDY PROPOSED. 51 

you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the 
remission of sins.” 

Christian Baptism commits and pledges to 
everything implied in Christian faith and life. 
It is Christ’s own appointed initiation into the 
kingdom of grace and salvation. The way He 
has ordained for the making of disciples, is the 
baptizing of them. Hence the direction of 
Peter in this case included a full surrender to 
Christ, and to an unreserved commitment to 
Christian life and duty. And this is what con¬ 
version in their case meant. 

Now, with these preliminary conditions ful¬ 
filled, very great blessings were thereupon pledged 
and promised. 

The first named, was the complete and thor¬ 
ough blotting out of the sins and guilt on 
account of which these people were so deeply 
distressed. Baptism into the name of Christ, is 
Baptism into Christ Himself; and in this in¬ 
stance it was to be, and was in reality, the 
washing away of their sins, and the entire eras¬ 
ure of them from the divine records, never 
again to be brought against them. Such cer¬ 
tainly is the force of the strong Greek verb by 
which the assurance of forgiveness is here ex¬ 
pressed. 


52 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

Baptized into Christ, we are baptized into 
His death; baptized into all the merits of His 
death; baptized into complete absolution, for¬ 
giveness, justification, and interest in all the 
blessings and promises of redemption. Our 
Baptism thus becomes one of the most precious 
Christian treasures. In it is pledged and certi¬ 
fied to us the whole content of the Christian , 
covenant and hope. And as we keep ourselves 
to it in faith and life, the law has no more 
claim against us, and we stand as fully absolved 
and justified as if we had never sinned at all. 

And with forgiveness and justification was tc. 
come “refreshing from the presence of the 
Lord.” The original of the word “refreshing,” 
may mean cooling and relief from oppressive 
heat, or recovery of breath after severe exertion. 
In either case, the meaning is that of blessed 
relief, and the cheer and comfort of soul that 
comes from the assurance of forgiveness. It 
denotes “peace in believing and joy in the 
Holy Ghost,” of which the Scriptures speak. 
Of those who acted on Peter’s direction, it is 
said, “ great grace was upon them all; neither 
was there any among them that lacked.” Per¬ 
secution came, but they were happy in their 
new faith, and “continued steadfastly in the 


THE REMEDY PROPOSED. 


53 


Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in break¬ 
ing of bread, and in prayers,” and “did eat 
their meat with gladness and singleness of 
heart, praising God, and having favor with the 
people.” 

Ah, yes; it is a blessed thing to be a Chris¬ 
tian. Even the wounds which the faithful 
preaching of the divine Word makes in our 
consciences, are soothing and healing. Severe 
as they may be for the time, they are like the 
sores lanced by the skillful surgeon to draw off 
hurtful humors, that healing may come. The 
very threatenings and condemnations of the 
law, deepen the comforts of the genuine peni¬ 
tent in realizing the more from what dreadful 
penalties he has been released. The great Phy¬ 
sician knows how to turn His bitterest medi¬ 
cines into sweetness, to those who meekly sub¬ 
mit themselves unto Him. And even with the 
many faults, failures, and shortcomings which 
we continually must lament, it is still a blessed 
thing to be a Christian. Times of refreshing 
come with every repentance and new start. 

But these times of refreshing are here spe¬ 
cially ascribed to times of the presence of the 
Lord. This, according to the verses that fol¬ 
low, are the times when the Lord Himself shall 


54 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

descend from heaven,—when He shall come to 
be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in 
all them that believe,—“the times of restitution 
of all things, which God hath spoken by the 
mouth of all His holy prophets since the world 
began.” And only then it is that the full 
refreshing and benefit of repentance and faith 
in Christ, are experienced and enjoyed. The 
promised blessedness takes in that of living and 
dying in the Lord, the resurrection of the body, 
and place and office with our Redeemer in the 
new heavens and the new earth. That will be 
a time of refreshing indeed, for which all crea¬ 
tion sighs. And in that unveiled presence of 
the Lord, when He shall appear the second 
time without sin unto salvation, shall come that 
fullness of refreshing pledged to those who per¬ 
severe in penitence and cleave to Him. 

But, while hoping and waiting for the tran- 
scendant blessedness then to come from our 
Lord’s presence, there are other times, forms 
and manifestations of His presence, which abound 
with refreshing and blessing to the faithful and 
true. 

He comes to us in His Word. Therein He 
is present. Therein He speaks, expounding the 
things concerning Himself, assuring us of His 


THE REMEDY PROPOSED. 


55 


glorious achievements in our behalf, and certi¬ 
fying to us His gracious will concerning us. 
And, if we will but read, and hear, and learn, 
we there shall find precious refreshing, making 
the soul of the believer glow with gladness. 

He is present in the assemblies convened for 
His worship. Whenever two or three are gath¬ 
ered together in His name, there He is ;—there 
to hear our prayers, to bestow His Spirit, to 
help our infirmities, to water all Christian graces, 
and to revive our oft drooping hopes. And by 
due attention to these assemblies, the anxious 
and believing soul will find them blessed times 
of refreshing from His presence. 

And so He is present in His holy Sacra¬ 
ments,—there to mark and seal to the contrite 
soul the assurances of forgiveness, and to impart 
His very body and blood in pledge of eternal 
redemption to those who trustfully accept Him 
as their Lord. Thus communion times, and 
praying times, are all times of refreshing from 
His presence, in proportion as we honestly avail 
ourselves of them. 


THE DANGEROUS WORLD. 


2 Tim. 4: 10.—Demas hath forsaken me, having loved 
this present world. 

HURCH history contains many sad re- 



cords of shipwrecks of faith by men 
and women once high and honored in Chris¬ 
tian life and activity. The wounded apostle 
here tells of one, which the Holy Ghost has 
thought well to keep permanently before the 
view of all Christians. 

Demas was not only a member of the 
Church, but one distinguished for zeal and 
ability. The great Apostle Paul thought well 
of him, and twice referred to him in his 
Epistles with respect and honor : once as “a 
fellow laborer in the Gospel,” and at another 
time as of like standing with St. Luke. But, 
about two years later, he appealed to Timo¬ 
thy to do his best to come to him, sorrow¬ 
fully adding, “ Demas hath forsaken me, hav¬ 
ing loved this present world.” 

Had the man only weakened in his zeal, 


THE DANGEROUS WORLD. 


57 


or merely erred or failed in some point of 
duty, the case would not have been so bad; 
for few lives are free from mistakes, weak¬ 
nesses, and blurs, that do not destroy all 
faith and fidelity. But Demas wilfully and 
deliberately gave up his work, dropped his 
profession, and forsook the aged Apostle, who 
was then in chains awaiting the day of his 
execution, and most in need of the sympathy 
and presence of his fellow believers. It was 
a sin against Christian love to abandon Paul 
in such an extremity; but it was at the same 
time an abandonment of his office and place 
as a helper in the Gospel, a giving up of 
his profession, a forsaking of his duty and 
his Iyord. • 

The times were adverse to Christians. They 
were often in peril of their lives, both from 
the Jews and the Gentiles; and Demas may 
have become tired of the conflict and risk. 
But he knew from the beginning, that, in 
accepting Christ and becoming a minister of 
the Gospel, he would have to meet dangers, 
and encounter oppositions; and that he who 
was not willing to face persecutions and 
hardships for Christ’s sake, was not worthy of 
being a disciple. He also had the heroic ex- 


58 RENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

amples of the Apostles before him, and of 
others who took willingly the spoiling of 
their goods, and were ready to go to prison 
and death, rather than surrender their faith. 
And when we recall how the aged Poly carp 
welcomed the flames kindled to consume him; 
and how Blandina persisted in proclaiming 
herself a Christian while being tortured to 
death for it; we cannot but feel indignant 
at the cowardly defection of this Demas. 

There is no reason to suppose that he was 
not sincere and earnest in his starting out in 
Christian faith and duty. Even the best of 
Christians are liable to be shaken and over¬ 
come by temptation. When people open the 
door to wrong affections, they are already on 
the way to be betrayed into apostacy. This 
is how Judas Iscariot made such a wreck of 
his apostleship and of himself. And the fatal 
thing in this man’s case was, that he allowed 
himself to become enamored with this present 
world, and cherished his love of it, till it 
undermined his Christian principles, and finally 
obtained the mastery over him. 

It matters not what particular worldly gain, 
advantage, or pleasure attracted him. It may 
have been favor, friendship, and promotion 


THE DANGEROUS WORLD. 59 

among the Church’s enemies ; or it may have 
been something more to his discredit. This 
present world has many treacherous blandish¬ 
ments, attractions, and pleasantnesses with 
which to beguile unstable souls, and ruin the 
Christianity of the unwary. “The lust of 
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride 
of life,” have wonderful power to destroy 
heavenly-mindedness. He sows among thorns, 
and plants his home amid deadly infection, 
who proposes to maintain a proper Christian 
life, with his heart surcharged with the in¬ 
dulgences of the vain ambitions, loves and 
cares of this world. Even his lawful business 
may be so pursued as to choke and kill his 
piety. The cross of Christ, if duly valued 
and embraced, must crucify us unto the world, 
or the world will crucify us to all right Chris¬ 
tian life. 

We are no longer required to face bloody 
persecution by becoming Christians. There is 
rather a sort of approved fashion for people 
to take on something of a religious profes¬ 
sion which is more dangerous than persecu¬ 
tion ; for it tends to beget a very superficial 
religion,—a religion of empty forms,—which 
takes the world into the Church, and does 


60 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

away with the impossibility of uniting the 
worship of God with the worship of Mammon. 
Even the devil himself is sometimes arrayed 
as an angel of light; but he is the same old 
serpent nevertheless. 

There are not many among us who would 
willingly surrender, or deliberately fling away 
all regard for religion, and cast off all hope 
of salvation through Christ. Not many would 
so choose this world as their portion as to 
renounce and abandon all claim and expec¬ 
tation of ever reaching heaven. And yet these 
same people are so fond of worldly ways 
and doings, and find it so much more agree¬ 
able to make sacred duties yield to their own 
ease, pleasures, pursuits and carnal likes, that 
they do but cheat themselves with heavenly 
hopes. It is Demas, after all, breaking fel¬ 
lowship with Apostles and saints for their 
love of this present world. Plead for it as 
they may, they are on the way to fearful 
disappointment and spiritual shipwreck. 

What, then, are some of the great practi¬ 
cal lessons that we should take from this 
subject ? 

One is, never to think ourselves so secure 
in our Christian attainments as to be beyond 


THE DANGEROUS WORLD. 61 

danger of apostacy and failure. If the heart 
is honestly and fully set in Christian faith 
and duty, we need not give place to distress¬ 
ing fears. Weak as we are, God will see us 
safely through, if we are careful and diligent. 
But we must guard against over-confidence, 
especially in our own strength. Peter thought 
nothing could shake him; yet, a night had 
not passed before he had three times pro¬ 
fanely denied his Lord. If Demas, in his 
better days, had been told of his base deser¬ 
tion, he would likely have resented it with 
indignation. Yet he did desert his office and 
his duty. And if we could even show apos¬ 
tolic faith and confidence, we still would have 
need of the admonition, “Take heed, lest ye 
fall.” 

Very loudly also comes to us the warning 
against the indulgence of a worldly affection 
and temper. Demas was a preacher, perhaps 
an eloquent preacher; but he never preached 
more powerfully than his case preaches to us, 
“ Love not the world, neither the things that 
are in the world. For if any man love the 
world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 
Demas consulted his carnal ease and interests, 
and it so weakened his care for his soul, and 


62 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


alienated his love from God and duty, that 
the Spirit was grieved away, and left him to 
become the prey of the great destroyer. And 
there be many professed Christians of our day 
who are on the same road, and courting a 
similar destiny. 

There is much pleasure and good in this 
world, and much that is meant to be enjoyed 
with thanksgiving by God’s children; but it 
is full of deceptive and bewitching lures, 
which are sure to bring sorrowful disaster to 
those who yield their hearts to them. Nor 
are we ever safe except as we are in con¬ 
stant endeavor to keep ourselves in the love 
of God, who demands the whole heart, mind, 
soul, and strength. 

A little girl once gathered a bunch of 
flowers and brought it as a gift of love to 
her pastor. In accepting it, he said, “ Do you 
ever bring little gifts to the Lord Jesus, to 
show your love to Him ? ” “ O yes,” said 

the little maid, with a cherub smile upon her 
face, H I give myself to Him.” And if we 
are only careful to give our whole selves to 
Christ, to love and serve Him, there will 
never be occasion to write of us what stands 
written against Demas. 


THE DANGEROUS WORLD. 


63 


And if any, perchance, have unhappily fal¬ 
len away from duty and place, the door of 
mercy is not yet finally closed against them. 
And to them the voice of the merciful Father 
calls, “Return, ye backsliding children, and 
I will heal your backslidings.” 

My soul, be on thy guard ; 

Ten thousand foes arise; 

And hosts of sin are pressing hard 
To draw thee from the skies. 


THE PATHETIC INQUIRY. 


John 6 : 67.—Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye 
also go away? 

ESUS was a great and marvellous preacher. 



Even His enemies were amazed at His 


utterances, and said, “Never man spake like 
this man.” He also had many admiring fol¬ 
lowers, who were charmed by his words, and 
captivated with His miracles. But the time 
came when some took offence at His sayings, 
insomuch that “they went back, and walked 
no more with Him.” Pained and sorrowful at 
this unreasonable defection, He turned to the 
twelve, and with intense pathos said to them, 
“Will ye also go away?” 

The implication is, that it is a great and 
blessed thing to come to Christ, and to keep 
on terms with Him. He is the “Eamb of God 
that taketh away the sin of the world.” By 
attestations of word and deed, by evidences 
from inspiration and prophecy, and by testi¬ 
monies from the Father and manifestations of 
the Spirit, He was and is the Christ, the Son 
of the living God, the true and only Saviour 


the; pathetic inquiry. 65 

of the world. He is himself the Way, the 
Truth, and the Life. Hearing Him, we hear 
the voice of God. Believing on Him we come 
into the family of God. And fixing on Him 
our trust and hope, we find the very salvation 
of God. He hath the words of eternal life. 

But He would have none follow Him, ex¬ 
cept by their own free choice. He does not 
coerce men against their will. He invites 
them to come to Him, pleads with them, ap¬ 
peals to them, and presents abundant motives 
to have them come; but, if they will not come, 
He uses no constraint, other than the moral 
force of truth, reason and goodness. If any re¬ 
ject Him, and refuse to walk with Him, He is 
grieved at their unbelief and hardness of heart, 
and greatly deplores their recklessness and 
their sin; but He desires only willing fol¬ 
lowers. And when people turn away from 
Him, however great the pang to His soul, He 
lets them go, rather than retain them by force. 
If people wait to be driven into the kingdom, 
they will be disappointed. 

It also appears from the text, that a fair- 
seeming following of Christ for the time, is no 
guarantee that it will hold out to the end. 
Here were people, whose zeal for Him ap- 


5 


66 


EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


peared to have no bounds, but it did not last. 
Even one of the twelve eventually lost faith, 
tired of his discipleship, and became the be¬ 
trayer of his Lord. And but for the grace of 
God, none of us could hold out against the 
many temptations and antagonisms that stand 
in the way of Christian perseverance. The 
whole history of the Church is lined with 
spiritual wrecks. Paul wrote to his friend 
Timothy, that many in Asia had turned away 
from him. The same was true of many, many 
more. And none of us are so firm and secure, 
as not to be in danger of falling away. Paul 
himself felt that he had need to struggle, lest, 
having preached to others, he should become a 
castaway. Even the twelve, when they saw so 
many offended, seem to have been affected 
somewhat in the same way. They evidently 
needed this pathetic appeal to bring them to a 
fresh decision, before the evil got too deep a 
root in their minds. 

It is a comforting truth, that when Jesus 
sees His people tempted, shaky, and in danger, 
He is always ready with some suitable help, 
admonition, or appeal to steady them. It was 
this very question, so pathetically put, that 
touched the hearts of His chosen ones, brought 


THE PATHETIC INQUIRY. 67 

them to a deeper and more earnest considera¬ 
tion of what was involved in such abandon¬ 
ment, and called forth from them a fresh 
renewal of their faith and devotion. He would 
not detain them against their will; but He let 
them see how much he cared for them; how 
sincerely He loved them ; and how much He 
was concerned for their eternal welfare. He 
thus caused them to think before adventuring 
upon a step so unfortunate. And this decided 
them, at least for that occasion. 

It is not an easy thing for those who have 
once learned to appreciate and believe in 
Christ, deliberately to renounce and abandon 
Him; They may grow cold and careless, and 
by their unwatchfulness and neglect become 
so entangled and betrayed as to fall away; but 
the Saviour is so concerned to keep those who 
truly believe in Him, and so surrounds them 
with His grace, that it requires an extraordi¬ 
nary recklessness for any of them, with open 
eyes and deliberate purpose, to renounce their 
profession. There is something that ever ap¬ 
peals to them, and says, “Will ye also go 
away ? ” 

But why should a disciple of Christ ever 
think of leaving Him? Where would be the 


68 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


reason or advantage of such a thing? To 
whom would they go to do better? It is easy 
to become tired and dissatisfied with what is. 
This is a common weakness of human nature. 
Nothing is long so good, but the feeling comes 
that something else would be better; and ideas 
of change are indulged without considering 
what the something is to be. People feel the 
inconveniences attendant upon what is, but 
what have they to put in its place? The soul 
cannot live on negations. One cannot feed 
and flourish on nothings. And if there are 
hardships and trials in the following of Christ, 
who can better the situation ? or whither shall 
we betake ourselves without having the mis¬ 
eries multiplied ten thousand fold ? What did 
these people gain by refusing to walk any 
more with Jesus? There was nothing in 
Pharisaism, in heathenism, in atheism, in 
themselves, or in all the possession of this fleet¬ 
ing world, to give them peace of soul and a 
good hope toward God and eternity. Letting 
go of Jesus, is letting go of eternal life ; for 
He alone hath the words of eternal life. And 
what can compensate for such a loss ! 

Every one who has really learned to know 
Christ, knows, that there is none other Name 


THE PATHETIC INQUIRY. 69 

under heaven given among men by which we 
can be saved. There is no truer, wiser, greater 
prophet than Jesus to teach us the way of life. 
There is no propitiation for human guilt that 
can avail save that made by Him on Calvary. 
There is no sage, or king, or minister to 
human welfare, having the power, the will, or 
the grace to help in time of need, as this Son 
of the living God. And if we cannot be con¬ 
tent to keep to Him, to whom shall we go? O 
misery of miseries ! O folly of follies! for any 
one who knows the Christ to turn away from 
Him! Better far that he had never been born, 
or never have known the way of righteousness, 
than, having known it, to turn from the holy 
commandment delivered unto him. 

Dear friends, you and I have learned to 
know something of the divine and all glorious 
Jesus. By the good providence of God, most 
of us I trust have been led to believe in 
Him, and to join the company of His fol¬ 
lowers. And great are the comforts that we 
have in our assurances of His ability to save, 
His tender love, and His desire that we should 
have life and salvation through His Name. 
What, then, would be our estate if we were to 
give Him up, and turn away from Him for- 


70 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


ever! Who then would love and care for us 
as He does ? What would we do with our 
many sins and defects which we now hope¬ 
fully count cancelled and covered by His avail¬ 
ing blood? What could we do for a throne 
of grace to which to come for mercy, and for 
grace to help in our many needs and sorrows? 
On whom could we call with hope of being 
heard when floods and dangers break in upon 
us? On whom could we count to go with us 
when compelled to bid adieu to earth, or bring 
to us a day of blessed resurrection ? Who then 
would have places ready for us in the man¬ 
sions of eternity, where to enjoy His presence, 
fellowship and love for the ages that have no 
end ? O, the horribleness of the gulf that 
opens before us, at the mere thought of giving 
up our interest in Jesus! God help us to be 
ever true to Him who is so much to us! 

Lord, and whither shall we go? 

Thou alone hast words of life ! 

In our stormy griefs below, 

Who, but Thou, can heal the strife ? 


HOW TO ESTIMATE THE MAN. 

Prov. 23: 7.—As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. 


I T is a great thing to be able to form right 
judgments of men, and of ourselves. It is 
not an easy attainment, but very important. 
Without it we are liable to fall into serious mis¬ 
takes. The text furnishes a rule by which char¬ 
acter is to be judged and estimated. It is not 
reputation, nor profession, nor any outward show 
or position, that determines what a man is; but, 
u as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” 

By the heart we understand the mental and 
moral nature,—the affections, feelings, choice 
and will,—the seat of our likes, emotions, pur¬ 
poses and contemplations. A man may out¬ 
wardly appear pious, virtuous, benevolent and 
good, while his hidden motives, designs, and 
feelings may be of a very different complexion. 
True character is an internal and spiritual thing. 
Under test it must show itself; but its real being 
exists in the spiritual realm,—in the thinking, 
temper, and aims of the heart. A man is good, 
sincere, and true, only as his heart, his thought, 
and what he inwardly intends and cherishes has 


72 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


these qualities ; “ for as he thinketh in his heart, 
so is he.” It is not according to his saying, his 
professions, his worldly possessions, his social 
rank, or what friends or enemies say of him ; 
but, according to his inward mind, affections, 
desires, and intentions, that he is good or bad. 
His thinking marks the real man. 

An idolater is not he alone who bows down to 
stocks and stones, or pays divine honors to mere 
creatures. Whosoever worships self, or greed, or 
mammon; or bestows his supreme regard on 
anything short of the true and only God ; sets 
up an idol, and proves himself an idolater. A 
man can be profane and atheistic without disfig¬ 
uring his speech with blasphemous words, or by 
impiously trampling the divine laws and prero¬ 
gatives. A man may think profanity, or curse 
in his heart, and that decides what he is; “ for 
as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” 

Nor is he the only murderer who in malice 
kills some fellow human being. Earthly laws 
do not conceive of murder without the use of 
daggers, bludgeons, poisons, or some other means 
or instruments to destroy life. But the feeling 
and intent of the heart, without any external 
violence, is enough to make a man a murderer 
in God’s sight. There may be no grasping of 


HOW TO ESTIMATE THE MAN. 73 

weapons, no fatal stroke, no shooting, no stop¬ 
page of some fellow being’s life, and yet be mur¬ 
der in the soul. M He that hateth his brother is 
a murderer.” No hand may be lifted, no blow 
may be struck, no life may be destroyed; but the 
inward hatred, the malicious feeling, the desire 
for revenge, and the iniquitous wish and impre¬ 
cation, make the man a murderer ; for the prin¬ 
ciple of murder is in his heart, and “as he 
thinketh in his heart, so is he.” 

Neither is he the only lewd man who has 
given himself to lewd deeds. According to 
Christ, and the true spirituality of the law, the 
impure thought, the incontinent wish, the sens¬ 
ual look, and the cherished unchaste hope, are 
quite enough to fix the guilt of adultery. Lewd 
thoughts willingly entertained, make a lewd 
heart; and “ as one thinketh in his heart, so is 
he.” 

There may be no unlawful outward seizure 
and appropriation of any thing belonging to 
another, and yet, to begrudge a man his pro¬ 
perty, to envy his good fortune, to secretly covet 
what he has, to wish it were not his, and to be 
pleased to have him lose it, are elements of lar¬ 
ceny in the soul; and “ as he thinketh in his 
heart, -so is he.” 


74 LBNTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

And so in all kinds of vice and wickedness. 
It is not so much the external act that deter¬ 
mines the guilt or innocence, as the internal 
thought, which moves the act, whether embod¬ 
ied in outward deed or not. It is what a man 
thinks, intends, and wishes that decides what 
manner of person he is. “ Man looketh on the 
outward appearance, but the L,ord looketh on the 
heart;” and as the heart is, so is the man. 
Because it was in David’s heart to build a house 
for the Lord, God said he did well ; and Simon 
had no part nor lot in the Gospel promises, 
because his heart was not right before God. 
Yea, “out of the heart are the issues of life.” 
As the man tliinketh, so is he. 

Note now some things that follow from this 
important truth. 

i. If a man is only what the thought of his 
heart is, then no one can ever fully know 
another. We may pretty well know people by 
the showing they make, and from what they say 
and do; but we cannot always know their hid¬ 
den thoughts, or read, all the secrets of their 
hearts. It is difficult even to know one’s self. 

The heart hath its mystery, and who may reveal it; 

Or who ever read in the depths of his own, 

How much we never may speak of, but feel it, 

But, even in feeling it, know it unknown. 


HOW TO ESTIMATE THE MAN. 75 

No one, therefore, is ever wholly above suspi¬ 
cion. A lifetime of proper outward behavior, 
may still have evil at the bottom of it. A man 
may put on saintliness, and die with a record of 
seeming goodness, yet come to the judgment as 
a self-deceiver or a hypocrite. We can never 
know any one so thoroughly as to be beyond 
the possibility of mistake. 

2. And if the man is what the thought of his 
heart is, then the world is likely much wickeder 
than it appears, and we ourselves much worse 
than we think. Not a tithe of what is felt and 
purposed in the heart is ever outwardly shown 
or spoken. There is a deeper, fuller, and wider 
world than we read of in earthly annals, and a 
vaster history than has ever come under human 
eyes. That world, and that history, is the hid¬ 
den world of human hearts. The earth, as in 
Noah’s time, abounds with wickedness. We are 
shocked and sickened by every day’s reports of 
crimes and evil doings. We see corruption fes¬ 
tering in high places and in low, tainting every 
breeze by its offensive exhalations. But, if we 
could see things as God sees them, and extend 
our observation to every scene of hidden vice, 
and all that lives and works in those sinks of sin 
which people carry concealed in their own 


76 lententide sermonettes. 

breasts, there would be a showing vastly beyond 
anything we have ever dreamed. It is a mercy 
that we are spared the sight of it. 

3. If a man is what the thoughts of his heart 
are, then the sincere, honest and true need not 
concern themselves about what others may think 
or say of them. God looketh upon the heart. 
and if our hearts are right, He knows it, and our 
heavenly record is right. Live and do as we 
may, some will misjudge us, and find occasion to 
speak evil of us. Not without reason has the 
great poet said, 

Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, 

Thou shalt not escape calumny. 

It is not pleasant to be unjustly reviled, to have 
one’s motives misconstrued, aud to have our 
honest endeavors maligned. It is hard to bear 
the vituperation of lying tongues. But, whether 
we get proper credit from men or not, if our 
hearts are right, our purposes honorable, and our 
motives pure, there is no occasion to fret, or 
weary ourselves to be justified before others. 
Our standing before God is not determined by 
their judgment. Our heavenly Father knows 
our thoughts, our sincerity, our honesty, and 
they stand to our credit in heaven. Let men 


HOW TO ESTIMATE THE MAN. 77 

think and say of us what they choose, it is 
enough that we stand justified in God’s sight, 
who knows our hearts, and will take due care 
of His true and faithful children. 

4. And if the man is what his heart and 
thinking are, how necessary for us to cultivate 
deep spirituality in our religion! An empty 
ceremonialism will not answer. A mere exter¬ 
nal goodishness in acts of charity, alms, and 
what beholders may commend, is not enough. 
Ceremonies are to be observed, and good works 
are not to be omitted ; but true religion is a 
thing of the heart, of right thoughts of God, of 
right affections toward Him, of principles that 
command the soul ; for as a man thinketh in his 
heart, so is he. In this, true Christian character 
has its being, and on this our eternal destiny 
depends. Faith must go deeper than a cold 
intellectuality ; for “with the heart man believ- 
eth unto righteousness.” Love must be that of 
the whole soul, heart, and mind; for love in 
word is not enough. Prayer must be with the 
spirit, and with the understanding, or it cannot 
reach to heaven. And no gifts or sacrifices will 
avail, except as they are attended with the sacri¬ 
fice of an humble and contrite spirit. 

“My son, give me thy heart,” is the great 


78 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

demand of God ; and less He will not accept, 
for the heart is the man. Lot’s wife may start 
under angel guidance, but if her heart remains 
in Sodom, she must expect to share Sodom’s 
doom. If the young man cleaves to his riches 
rather than to Christ, all his amiable loveliness 
cannot cure his sorrows. The heart must be 
given, or all else must fail; for the heart is the 
real man. 

It is vain for people to pride themselves on 
their correct deportment. That is a centreing 
of the heart on self. There may be well-doing, 
and yet the omission of things essential. The 
right thinking may after all be wanting. It is 
not so much the wrong-doing of men, as their 
partiality or feebleness in heart zeal, in heart 
devotion that marks their deficiency. It is the 
sin of omission, rather than the sin of commis¬ 
sion, that is the bane of so many in our day. 
Decency of behavior, and propriety of conduct, 
are ample enough with many ; but, have they 
given their hearts to God, so as to have Him 
always in mind in all their thinking and doing? 
This is the question, and on this the final des¬ 
tiny of each must turn. For, u as a man think- 
eth in his heart, so is he.” 


THE EVIL AND BITTERNESS OF SIN. 


Jer. 2: 19. —Know therefore and see that it is an evil 
thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy 
God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord. 



IN is more easily described than defined. 


kj But this text serves well enough to in¬ 
dicate what it is, and what sort of experiences 
attend it. 

Sin, in its essence, is estrangement from 
God,—the self-determined following of one’s 
own perverse will in antagonism or disregard 
to the will of God,—the repudiation of His 
law and claims, giving supreme place or af¬ 
fection to something which is not God,—the 
direction of our conduct and life without re¬ 
ference to Him, or fear of His judgments. 

Sin, in its consequences, as well ^as in its 
nature, is a very evil and treacherous thing. 
Nothing is more deceptive. It makes very 
flattering promises. It offers pleasure, gain, 
and happiness. It charms by the most be¬ 
witching enticements. It pleads liberty and 
independence, and proposes all manner of good, 
enjoyment, and prosperity. It gratifies the 


79 


8o 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


senses, and seems to have blessings unspeak¬ 
able. But sin and hell are inseparably con¬ 
nected. Even here on earth, whosoever gives 
himself to forbidden ways, is likely to wake 
up with the stinging and torturing foretaste 
of eternal misery in his soul. 

I think of sinning Cain. Presently his 
crime seemed to write itself all over him in 
blazing letters. He could hear his brother’s 
blood crying after him from the earth whither¬ 
soever he went. Every step he took was full 
of dread. Fancy a man like that, haunted 
with perpetual fears; hating to meet another’s 
eye; suspecting every hand of holding a knife 
to slay him; dreading the footsteps behind 
him; questioning the voices in front of him ; 
and shrinking as from burning coals when 
the hand of a fellow man is laid upon his 
shoulder. Such a man carries his own hell 
with him. Where’er he goes is hell; him¬ 
self is hell. An evil thing and bitter has 
hold of him. 

I think also of king Saul, once among the 
prophets, but departing from God to serve 
his own selfishness, envy and passion; until 
his walking, and riding, and eating, were 
under the felt curse of God. What magnifi- 


THE EVIL, AND BITTERNESS OF SIN. 81 

cent possibilities were blasted by his infideli¬ 
ties ! Looking back at the last upon his wasted 
years, and seeing nothing but the great things 
that might have been, all wrecked and ruined ; 
what pains of hell must have thrust through 
his soul! And how tragic and bitter was the 
end ! Crushed to the earth by his sins; his 
last great battle gone against him; his sons 
dead on the field; his enemies on his track 
and about to tear the crown from his head; 
abandoned by the prophet and by the pro¬ 
phet’s God; fleeing to the cave of a witch 
for light and comfort; and so far abandoned 
by himself as to fling his giant body on his 
sword, he died a wretched suicide! What 
hellish tortures got hold upon him ! How 
evil and bitter was his departure from God ! 

I think likewise of Judas, passing from 
honor to dishonor, from faith to infidelity, 
until for a paltry price he betrayed the Son 
of God ! What awful feelings presently tore 
and tortured that man’s soul, that he should 
hurry to make away with himself, as he did! 
The Jews would never have punished him. 
Rome would never have called him to ac¬ 
count. No apostle felt pledged to do him 
harm. And yet he could not bear to live. 

6 


82 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


He had been toying with sin till he found 
he had sold his best friend; sold himself; 
sold his God; and the result was that an in¬ 
tolerable hell seized upon his soul, drove him 
hither and thither a self-accused and helpless 
wretch, who grasped at death as a boon, and 
hanged himself to cure his anguish! 

O, it is an evil thing and bitter to depart 
from the living God. 

And whence come these tortures? this agon¬ 
izing shame and dread? Not from without, 
but from the lashes of a guilty conscience, 
which sooner or later must come to every 
transgressor. It is conscious responsibility,— 
responsibility to outraged law, and an out¬ 
raged God behind the law,—and what that 
responsibility entails. It is easy enough, and 
often very pleasant to turn away from God, 
to gratify self and sense ; but afterward it 
biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an 
adder. It is not hard for perverted human 
nature to mock at sin, and make light of im¬ 
piety ; but the time will come when an irre¬ 
pressible force will compel the transgressor to 
view and curse it as the worst bane and 
blight of existence. 

People fancy they can play with sin, and 


THE EVIL AND BITTERNESS OF SIN. 83 

not be hurt; that all things go by mere 
happenings; that the universe is without a 
plan; that there is no God to interfere,—no 
retribution. But presently terrible spectres 
start up to torture the guilty soul, and the 
imploring warnings are, for God’s sake to keep 
back from such unwisdom. 

And for every man or woman who feels 
the decay of reverence for sacred things, or 
the growth of indifference, or the indulgence 
of unbelief and disregard of God, the text 
brings a most impressive admonition. There 
may be sunny cheer for the time; but with 
an atheistic temper working in the heart, 
there is a downward incline that ends in un¬ 
suspected woes,—in a prison-house of souls 
on the portals of which is written, “Abandon 
hope, all ye that enter here.” 

God forbid that any of us should be caught 
in a maelstrom so fatal ! There is danger of 
it, if the proper care be not exercised. 

But there is also a way of safety. God is 
good, and not willing that any should perish. 
Keeping Him in mind in all we do and 
undertake ; anxious to be in accord with His 
holy will; sorrowing for our failures and 
lack of faith; and imploring mercy and help 


84 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

through Jesus Christ; the assurance is, that 
His grace shall be sufficient for us. 

And now is the time, dear friends, for us 
to be about this very thing. The Lenten 
time is repenting time. Mere external bodily 
discipline is of no great account. Mortifying 
the appetite, the making of some personal 
sacrifices, may be good and desirable as a 
help, but the call is for something deeper. 
People may fast, and deny themselves, if they 
will, provided they do it to assist in the 
earnestness of their spiritual endeavors; but 
the voice of Lent is for the wicked to for¬ 
sake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts; and to return unto the Lord, 
to obtain mercy, and find grace to help in 
time of need. 

The meaning is for us to think upon our 
ways, to call a halt of ordinary routine to 
ascertain where we are, to get back from all 
aberrations from the right. When Peter stood 
convicted of having denied his Lord, he 
did not try to hide it, or seek to excuse 
himself for it; but felt in his soul that he 
was a mean and cowardly sinner. And he 
“went out and wept bitterly.” Broken-hearted 
over his fall and guilt, and with his soul 


THE EVIL, AND BITTERNESS OF SIN. 85 

aching with grief and abhorrence of his crime, 
he flung himself upon the mercy of God, an 
humbled and changed man, and set himself 
to make amends for his wickedness. And so 
it needs to be with us. If our consciences 
have sins to write against us, with wounded 
and sorrowing hearts let us bow down in 
deep humility before our injured L,ord, hum¬ 
bly implore His forgiveness, and honestly en¬ 
deavor by His help henceforth to keep closer 
to Him. For it is an evil thing and bitter 
to depart from the Lord our God, or to slacken 
in our fear and regard for Him. 


SELF-CONFIDENCE OVERWHELMED. 

Rom. 7 : 9.—I was alive without the law once: but when 
the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 

F EW people know, or fully realize, their 
true standing’; especially their standing 
before God, and His holy law. Here was a 
man of great intelligence, thoroughly edu¬ 
cated, and religiously zealous withal ; and yet 
he was totally mistaken and self-deceived as to 
his real standing in relation to the divine re¬ 
quirements. He confessed that he was once 
“alive without the law;”—not that the law 
did not exist, or that its claims and demauds 
are not everywhere and always the same ; but 
that his understanding of it was so defective 
and erroneous, that he felt perfectly satisfied 
with his observance of it. He was alive in his 
good opinion of himself, and with reference to 
his manner of life. As he elsewhere expresses 
it, he thought himself, “as touching the law, 
blameless;” that is, in perfectly good standing 
with regard to everything that God’s law re¬ 
quires. Like the Pharisees in general, to 
whose sect he belonged, he was proud of his 

righteousness, and was ready to thank God 
86 


SELF-CONFIDENCE OVERWHELMED. 87 

that he was “ not as other men are, extor¬ 
tioners, unjust, adulterers,” or the like. In 
other words, he was thoroughly pleased with 
himself, and lived in a state of self-compla¬ 
cency, having nothing with which to reproach 
himself, or from which to fear God’s righteous 
judgment. 

And what the Apostle thus confesses of his 
state of mind before he became a Christian, is 
largely true of many others to-day, both in the 
Church and outside of it. Few, indeed, are so 
blind, as to think they have never sinned— 
never done anything wrong; yet many are dis¬ 
posed to congratulate themselves that they have 
never sinned in so great a degree, or so out¬ 
rageously transgressed against morality and good 
order, as to endanger their eternal happiness, 
or to justify the Almighty in consigning them 
to eternal condemnation. If, in some respects, 
they have here or there gotten somewhat out 
of the way, they claim that it was with no bad 
intentions; and that, if their conduct has not 
always been just right, their hearts were good. 
Having steered clear of gross immoralities, and 
been circumspect and dutiful in the main, they 
are so well satisfied with themselves, as to feel 
safe against any danger of perishing with the 


88 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


wicked and godless. Such a doom for them 
they would consider wholly irreconcilable with 
divine goodness, not to say justice. In other 
words, they are quite alive , at ease, and without 
fear, in their good opinion of themselves and 
their standing before God. 

The reason why Paul was in such a peaceful 
and comfortable state of mind before he be¬ 
came a Christian, he also states. He says 
he was u without the law ;"—not literally with¬ 
out it, but so much in the dark as to its 
real nature and requirements, that it was to 
him very much as if it did not exist at all. 
As its precepts apply to outward actions, he 
knew the law, and considered that he was 

faultless in his observance of it; but he had 
no idea of its spirituality, and its application 
to the inmost thoughts, feelings and desires of 
the heart. He did not see or realize that there 
could be murder in hatred, adultery in lust, and 
idolatry in covetousness. Hence he saw no 
reason to charge himself with crimes he had 
never outwardly committed. Nor did he ever 

dream that lust is sin, until he came to con¬ 
sider that the law says, “ Thou shalt not 

covet;” that is, that it takes cognizance of all 
the hidden activities of the soul. 


self-confidence overwhelmed. 


And this is just the reason why mere moral¬ 
ists live in so much comfort and serenity with 
regard to themselves. They are without any 
right understanding of the law by which to 
judge. The standard by which they estimate 
themselves, is a false standard, and not the re¬ 
quirements of God. They are “alive,” easy, 
hopeful, contented, and unwilling to believe 
themselves in any serious danger, because they 
are blind and oblivious to the realities of their 
situation. They have no idea of the deep 
spirituality of the law, which finds the whole 
being of man saturated with sin from his 
birth, and in all the activities of his life. 
They have no right rule by which to diagnose 
their own case, and so are persuaded that they 
are sufficiently sound and whole not to need a 
physician, and more or less despise the preach¬ 
ing of salvation through faith in Christ’s aton¬ 
ing blood alone. 

But the time arrived when a different state 
of things broke in upon the man’s soul. “ The 
commandment came ;"—not a new command¬ 
ment, but that commandment illumined by the 
brightness which flashed upon him on his way 
to Damascus, which convinced him of the 
glory and power of Jesus as the Christ, and 


90 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

satisfied him that there is no salvation for man 
save through the bloodshedding and mediator- 
ship of Jesus. The greatness of the Saviour, 
showed him the desperate depth of that sinful¬ 
ness which required so great a sacrifice to 
cover it. Viewing things in this new light, 
where he had thought all good and saintly, he 
beheld the upspringing of sin, and nothing but 
sin, in all its condemning power. The sin was 
there all the while before; only he had not seen 
or suspected it. In a manner it lay dormant, 
in so far as his observation went; but now it 
“ revived ” in all its evil and killing strength. 

The result was, that he “ died /”—utterly 
died in all his good opinion of himself and all 
his confidence in his own righteousness. He 
saw himself now as nothing but a poor guilty 
mortal, with not a scintilla of hope left for 
him in anything that he had done, or ever 
could do. So far as justification by the deeds 
of the law was concerned, he felt himself a 
dead man,—dead to all prospect of ever reach¬ 
ing salvation. 

And the same effect will be produced in the 
feelings and convictions of every one who will 
take the lamp of God’s Word, and search into 
the depths of that hidden world of thought, 


SELF-CONFIDENCE OVERWHELMED. 91 

feeling and desire out of which are the issues 
of life. While all goes smoothly, and the 
sense of decency, or the fear of public opinion, 
or the absence of strong temptation, keeps from 
open and gross crimes, people are apt to think 
fhemselves, on the average at least, a very good 
sort of persons. They do not feel that pride is 
sin; or that waste of time, resentful anger, 
worldly mindedness, selfish ambition, an en¬ 
vious and jealous temper, evil thoughts, and a 
criminating and fault-finding heart, are wicked; 
or that hatred in the soul is murder; that 
evil lust is crime, and that failure to give the 
whole heart to God is guilt. But when the 
law is found to apply to all these, and we 
come to read the depths of our condemnation 
in what it cost the Son of God to redeem us; 
we cannot otherwise than die in all hope of 
ever being saved by our own virtues and 
works. 

But this dying of the Pharisaic Paul,—this 
utter slaughter of all his legalistic hopes,—was 
the best thing for his soul that ever happened 
to him. It was the first stage in the process 
of his salvation. It cut him off forever from 
his false hopes, and prepared him to lay hold 
by faith in Jesus of the only chance for reach- 


92 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

ing heaven. What was in one respect his 
death, was in reality the beginning of a new 
creation to life eternal. 

And so we all need to be slain that we may 
truly live. It may be hard to think meanly 
of our goodness, moralities and charities, about 
which we have been so careful, and done so 
much. And if done in the Name and for the 
sake of Christ our Saviour, God is not un¬ 
righteous to forget it in the great day ; but, if 
pleaded and rested on as the ground of our 
hope of heaven, all our good doings are worse 
than filthy rags in His sight. Trusting in 
them as our hope, we shall surely die. But, 
dying to all hope through our works, so as to 
fix our only trust and hope in Jesus, we are on 
the way to life everlasting. Nor can we fully 
appreciate His love, or the precious sweetness 
of His Gospel, until we learn how worthless, 
guilty and miserable we are without Him. 

It is a great mistake to be thinking how 
good we are. This was the error of Paul, 
which had well nigh proved his ruin. We 
need rather to find out how bad, how un¬ 
worthy, how sinful we are, both by nature and 
practice, and how utterly undone we are with¬ 
out Christ and redemption through His blood. 


Griefs of an Awakened Conscience. 


Rom. 7: 24.—O wretched man that I am! Who shall 
deliver me from the body of this death. 

I T was once a mode of punishment to chain 
the offender to a corpse, from which he 
could not get away. It was a horrible pen¬ 
alty. And this seems to be the figure which 
the apostle here employs to express the spirit¬ 
ual condition in which he found himself. 

Some have supposed that he is speaking 
in the person of a wicked man, whom God 
has made to feel the burden and power of 
his sins and corruptions, before coming to faith 
in Christ. But he speaks in his own proper 
personality; and the statements preceding the 
text plainly show that he means himself;— 
himself, not in some earlier period of his life, 
or former stage of his experience, but at the 
very time of the writing of this Epistle. The 
language is that of sore complaint in view of 
the presence and influence of evil which ac¬ 
companied his most earnest Christian endeavors. 
It is not Saul, the convicted persecutor, that 
utters this cry; but Paul, the servant of Jesus, 


93 


94 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

—Paul, the chosen and beloved Apostle,—Paul, 
the illustrious champion and devoted hero of 
the faith. It expressed a feeling of intensest 
hatred and disgust with all manner of in¬ 
dwelling sin, along with an equally intense 
wish and striving to be released from it. 
Strong as the utterance is, it is nevertheless 
the utterance of an experienced Christian,—of 
one who knows the stress of battle in the 
effort to live a pure and holy life. And only 
he who delights in the law of God after the 
inward man, and would do good, could feel 
what the Apostle here so deploringly laments. 

People may talk of sinless perfection; but 
while their feet are on this vile earth, and 
their souls are bound up with this vile body, 
they carry with them an amount of evil and 
corruption which a deceptive emotionalism may 
hide from their view, but from which they 
are never free. It requires a deep and ad¬ 
vanced state of grace to perceive and realize 
the conflict with the remains of sin which 
still hinder and oppress the best of Christ’s 
disciples. And if any are free from any such 
experiences as the Apostle here describes, and 
feel nothing of the burden to which he al¬ 
ludes, they have reason to fear that they do 


GRIEFS OF AN AWAKENED CONSCIENCE. 95 

not yet know themselves, or what genuine 
Christian life means ; for their religion is likely 
more a dream than a reality,—a blind man’s 
picture,—a deaf man’s song. 

Nothing so troubles and afflicts a devout 
Christian soul as the conscious presence of 
evil that cleaves to him in spite of all his en¬ 
deavors. Paul was a great sufferer. The account 
of his outward afflictions and trials would fill 
a volume. But we never hear him complain 
of them. Poverty and want, perils and ship¬ 
wrecks, toils and persecutions, stripes, stonings, 
imprisonments and daily dyings,—none of these 
things moved him. Nay, he glorified in them, 
and cheerfully endured them for Christ and 
the Church’s sake. But when it came to the 
law in his members warring against the law 
of his mind, and the inward corruption he 
was bound to drag along with him, even in 
his holiest moments, his distress was intense, 
and his cry was, “ O wretched man that I 
am! Who shall deliver me from the body of 
this death?” The thorn in the flesh greatly 
troubled him; but that he could bear. The 
greatest grief of his soul was, his being chained 
to the offensive and disabling carcass of the 
old man, beyond whose reach no elevation 


96 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

could lift, and no attainments exempt from its 
smirching power. And what the good Apostle 
thus felt and lamented, is more or less felt 
by every true Christian. 

What child of God exists upon this earth 
who is never assailed with evil thoughts? He 
may hate them, and do his best to bar them 
out; yet they come,—come in spite of him, 
—come again and again,—come in his waking 
hours and in his dreams,—come when he 
wishes them furthest away, and torment him 
even in his holiest moments. 

The same may be said of evil de:ires, which 
are born of evil thoughts. Abhor and con¬ 
demn them as we may, and fight them as 
we would fight evil deeds, there is no man 
living whose soul they do not invade. It 

cannot be otherwise. There are voids in our 
nature ever aching to be filled, and capacities 
for enjoyment that long to be satisfied, and 
objects all around us offering pleasing grati¬ 
fications, and every sense open to the inlet 
of temptation, and passion and appetite ever 
ready to welcome pleasure, and roaming im¬ 
agination ever busy picturing scenes, posses¬ 
sions and enjoyments to awaken desire; so that 
it would be a miracle for any one to escape 
7 


GRIEFS OF AN AWAKENED CONSCIENCE. 97 

the incomings of cravings and longings which 
savor not of holiness. 

So, too, with regard to evil temper. Well 
as we may think to guard ourselves, anger, 
petulance, envy, discontent, jealousy, hatred, 
pride, selfishness, and uncharity, are sure to 
spring up at times to our shame and hurt. 
As storms upon the outer world, unsavory 
tumults often come into the soul to disturb 
its equanimity and to prove to us that we 
are, after all, poor, sinful flesh and blood. 

And in still other ways, the evil that in¬ 
heres in us works and manifests its presence. 
It hinders much of the good we would do, 
and taints and corrupts what it cannot hin¬ 
der. It weakens and often defeats the best re¬ 
solves, strengthens doubt and negligence, chills 
and hinders zeal, distracts devotion, and is 
apt to interject unworthy motives into what 
we do for God, His cause and His people. 
It even creeps into our closets, and into our 
very prayers, distracting the thoughts, divert¬ 
ing attention, and dragging down our devo¬ 
tions into heartless performances, and often 
transmuting them into mere mockery. 

Christianity is meant to separate between 
us and all wilful sin, to dethrone evil, to 


7 


98 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

set up a new order of things in the heart, 
to bring us under another principle of gravi¬ 
tation from that which governs the natural 
man, and to commence and further a work 
of sanctification to fit us for heaven; but 
while we are in the flesh we are never per¬ 
fect. The best of men have freely acknow¬ 
ledged this. Paul, after all his efforts and 
experiences, did not count himself perfect. 
James said, “in many things we all offend.” 
John says, “If any man say he hath no sin, 
he deceiveth himself, and the truth is not in 
him.” A distinguished citizen once said, “My 
tears need washing in the blood of Jesus, 
and my repentance needs to be repented of.” 
Another sorely lamented that he found so 
little difference between him and the wicked, 
his will seeming as perverse as theirs, and 
his heart as hard. And who among the best 
is so good as not to have need to ask God 
every day to forgive our trespasses, and to 
have mercy upon the stupidity of our prayers ! 

See, then from this, the potent and per¬ 
sistent evilness of sin. Even when it is de¬ 
throned, its dregs still linger and work in us. 
We cannot help it. With its head crushed 
and its dominion broken, it still writhes, and 


GRIEFS OF AN AWAKENED CONSCIENCE. 99 

makes its presence felt. Overcome, weakened 
and brought under in the main, it is still 
able to give us much painful distress. Its 
remains made the great Apostle groan with 
wretchedness, even while abounding in faith, 
hope, and the devoutest constcration. With 
our foot upon the neck of the foe, we are 
still not safe against the mischief he can 
do us. 

But learn further, from this, not to be 
disheartened or to despair because you can¬ 
not always stand upright. Christian life is 
necessarily a chequered life. It has its ups 
and downs, its joys and griefs, its successes 
and failures, its strength and weaknesses. We 
cannot be mature saints at once, any more 
than we could be men and women without 
passing through the experiences of childhood. 
We must grow in grace; and, like children 
learning to walk, we must expect weaknesses 
to show themselves, and falls and tumbles 
without number come. But we must not 
therefore give up effort, and conclude that 
we never can walk. We must keep at it, 
and learn by one failure to guard the better 
against the next. Paul did not give up be¬ 
cause he found evil still working in him so 
LofC. 


100 


EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


powerfully as sometimes to carry him captive 
against his will; but continued the more ear¬ 
nest and determined in his striving so as 
not to miss the prize. 

One great consolation in the heavy and dis. 
tressing conflict he had, and to that he thank¬ 
fully clung; namely, that salvation does not 
depend on the perfection of our works and 
goodness, but upon the mercy, merit, and 
achievements of our blessed Lord Jesus. Hon¬ 
estly doing what we can to live holy and 
godly in Him, no matter for our infirmities 
and failures. God is gracious, and our blessed 
Saviour will see to it to bring us through 
in safety, if we only hold on to our faith 
and trust in Him. 

The while I fain would tread the heavenly way, 
Seems evil ever with me day by day ; 

Yet on mine ears the gracious tidings fall, 

Repent, confess, thou shalt be loosed from all. 


THE HOPEFUL RESOLVE. 

Luke is : 18.—I will arise and go to my father. 
HESE are the words of that bad son, 



1 who took his portion of goods from a 
loving and indulgent father, and went away 
into a far country, and spent it all in riot and 
sin, until he reduced himself to rags, beggary, 
and next thing to starvation. That son stands 
in the parable as the type and representative 
of ourselves, in our wandering from the lov¬ 
ing Father in heaven, our wicked abuse of 
His goodness and His gifts, and the miseries 
to which we have reduced ourselves by our 
sins. It is not that we are sinners above other 
sinners ; but that so we have acted, and that 
such is the real character which we have put 
on by our departures from God. Ungrateful 
and wasteful prodigal children are we all; and 
it is useless for us to attempt to relieve our¬ 
selves of the charge. 

But the great and consoling hope we have, 
is, that, with all our waywardness, God has 
not ceased to be the same kind and loving 
Father that He always was, and is waiting all 


IOI 


102 


EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


the while for us to come to ourselves, to be¬ 
think ourselves of His goodness, and to come 
back to Him as our only refuge from the 
miseries which our sins have induced, ready 
to receive us again with every mark of a 
Father’s love and forgiveness, if only we return 
to Him in humble confession of our folly. 

But there can be no such getting back into 
an injured Father’s love, except by a radical 
change, such as was expressed in the language 
of this wandering prodigal : “ I will arise and 
go to my father, and will say unto him, 
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and be¬ 
fore thee.” This tells the story, and shows 
the only ground on which reinstatement in the 
love and communion of the parental home can 
come. 

What, then, is that change? The text tells. 

First of all, the words evince a heart made 
sensible of the ruinous evil of sin. This man 
had gone into riotous living, and it brought 
him to want. He tried to help himself in his 
ill condition, but it only revealed to him the 
depth of his degradation. He expected sym¬ 
pathy and pity of that gay world which he 
had served, but it only despised him in his 
destitution, and was content to let him starve 


THE HOPEFUL RESOLVE. IO3 

when he could minister to it no more. He 
thus was made to see, to his sorrow, that the 
way of the transgressor is hard, and that the 
tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. 

And something of this necessarily has place 
in all genuine repentance. Sin is a ruinous 
and most damaging thing. To be involved in 
it is a disgrace, a humiliation, and a misery. 

It creates a famine of soul—an oppressive lack 
and want—a degradation and a corruption. It 
is a putting of one’s self on the side of what 
is the direct cause of all disorder and wretch¬ 
edness. And unless we are convinced and feel 
the dishonor and baseness of going against 
God, and truth, and right, we are not in the • 
condition of true penitents. 

In the next place, the words show a heart in 
its wretchedness bethinking itself of what it 
might have been but for its wickedness, and 
what perchance it may yet secure by timely 
change. The man thinks of the good home 
and father he had abandoned, and what a 
blessing it would be to him if he could there 
have only a servant’s place. To be owned and 
recognized as a son, he could hardly expect. 
He deems himself too base and wicked for that. 
He considers what a fool and madman he has 


104 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

been, and what a great mercy it would be if 
only he could take the place of one of his 
father’s hired servants. 

But thinking is not a change of heart, 
though it is the beginning of it. The change 
cannot come without thinking. The great 
trouble with people is, that they do not think, 
do not consider, and hence have no right sense 
of their sin. A true penitent thinks, and 
comes to himself, and realizes the wrongs and 
losses done and incurred by his waywardness 
and folly. But thinking is not yet conversion. 
If this foolish man had never got beyond his 
thinking and sense of sin, it would not have 
helped him. 

Hence the words further show a heart 
moved and resolved to go back in humble 
and frank confession of all his sin. Not only 
in word, but in both word and act, he said, 
“I will arise and go to my father, and will 
say unto him, Father, I have sinned against 
heaven and before thee, and am no more 
worthy to be called thy son, make me as one 
of thy hired servants.” Here was confession, 
—here was prayer,—here was a complete break¬ 
ing away from his sinful and wayward life,— 
here was an earnest and honest return,—here 


THE HOPEFUL RESOLVE. 


105 


was an humble and contrite spirit. And this 
is always the crown and perfection of repent¬ 
ance. There must be humble and true confes¬ 
sion ; but mere confession is not enough. 
Many are free to confess their sins, and even 
lament them, but still do not honestly pray to 
have them different, nor give up the wicked¬ 
ness to which they acknowledge. 

There may be conviction of sin, and confes¬ 
sion of sin, and regret for sin, and yet no true 
repentance. The chief point in the matter is, 
to give up the sins we feel, to turn away 
from them, to forsake them, and to set out on 
the homepath of thorough reform. Even 
prayer is nothing, if we are not willing 
heartily to do and act as we pray. In short, 
we must arise, and go, and stop at nothing till 
we have come clean out of our old ways, and 
appear before God in humble supplication for 
His mercy. Feelings, tears, remorse, wishes, 
sighs, good resolutions, even prayers, will not 
do, if not accompanied with decisive action, 
which brings us out and away from every sin¬ 
ful manner of life, willing to accept anything 
rather than remain in the old filth, baseness 
and misery. 

The result of this bad son’s resolve was 


106 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

abundantly successful and happy. We are told 
that “ when he was yet a great way off, his 
father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, 
and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and said 
to the servants, Bring forth the best robe and 
put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, 
and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the 
fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be 
merry; for this my son was dead and is alive 
again, he was lost, and is found.” How affect¬ 
ing the picture ! How complete the forgive¬ 
ness ! How fond and loving the restoration to 
favor and home ! And the painting was made 
to show the heavenly Father’s love for poor 
lost souls that turn from their sins and miseries, 
and penitently come to Him. 

Ah, yes, God did not give His only begotten 
Son to die for us, without being willing and 
ready to accept, forgive, and save, if we rightly 
plead for His clemency and grace. He has 
not been all this while waiting and bearing 
with us in our sins and follies, without being 
willing and anxious to receive us again into 
the embraces of His loving favor, if only there 
be in us a right heart to return to Him. Nay, 
His own gracious pledge is, that He will not 
cast out any who come to Him. The wonder 


THE HOPEFUL RESOLVE. 


107 


is, that poor, lost, and wretched souls, are not 
more ready to embrace the blessed opportunity. 

Ho, Ye that have wandered long and far 
from your Father’s home ;—ye who have fed 
upon the husks of worldly vanity, spent your 
patrimony in riot and sin, strayed away with 
ill company in a far country ;—the call is to 
you to come back, and enjoy again the love 
and peace of which you have made yourselves 
so unworthy. Despair not because of the de¬ 
gradation to which you have reduced your¬ 
selves, or the defilement and guilt you have 
gathered upon your soul. Christ came not to 
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 
Turn your eyes from yourselves to your 
Saviour, for He has found a ransom, and His 
blood cleanseth from all sin. Doubt not that 
He will pardon and overlook the past, or give 
you all needed help for the future, if you do 
but come to Him. In His merit and interces¬ 
sion trust and hope, and in living truth say, 
“I will arise and go to my Father.” 

Ye, too, who have been listening so long 
with indifference to a preached Gospel, and 
often so unthankfully heard and neglected the 
offers of grace from your loving Creator ;—ye 
who have been content with the comforts and 


io8 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


mercies of life without thanks, or faith, or 
obedience ;—ye who were consecrated to Him 
in holy Baptism, and planted in the kingdom 
by fond parents now no longer on earth, but 
have never walked conformably to your duty 
or the pledges so sincerely made for you ;—ye 
who have never cared to acknowledge and 
take the mercies of your Saviour in the blessed 
Sacrament concerning which He hath said, 
“ Do this, in remembrance of Me —reflect 
upon your privileges and your ungrateful 
neglect of them, and be touched with shame 
and contrition for so much goodness abused, so 
many gracious opportunities slighted, so much 
love requited with unkindness. Ask yourselves 
whether it is not time that this indifferent 
sort of life were changed, your souls looked 
after with more serious regard, and your feet 
turned into the way of your Lord’s command¬ 
ments. And as you think, and see the need of 
change, let this be your solemn resolve, u I 
will arise and go to my Father.” 

And thou who hast given thy name, and 
laid thy vows upon the altar of thy God, and 
sworn to be faithful until death ; hast thou 
been jostled from the path by a seductive or 
adverse world ? Hast thou become unwatchful, 


THE HOPEFUL, RESOLVE. 109 

cold, languid and neglectful in thy prayers, 
and compliant with flesh and blood? Has sin 
made inroads upon thy heart, and stained thy 
conscience, and swayed thy affections ? Does a 
sense of guilt or unfaithfulness oppress and 
weigh down thy soul ? Has temptation tri¬ 
umphed over thee, some besetting lust led thee 
captive, some deed of wrong taken hold upon 
thee, that thou canst not look up? Art thou 
afraid to approach God because of some con¬ 
scious offence against His pure and holy law? 
Let not black despair overcloud thy spirit. 
Remember thy Saviour, who has felt thy in¬ 
firmities, and how He ever liveth to make 
intercession for thee. Remember that God 
knoweth whereof thou art made. Hide not 
away from thy merciful Lord, lest thou be 
tempted to depart still further from Him. 
Rather, in humble penitence, yet with confid¬ 
ence that He will not cast thee off, be this thy 
solemn promise, “I will arise and go to my 
Father.” 

Art thou a child of sorrow and affliction ? 
Have hard and trying providences been thy 
lot ? Has the world shut the doors of kindness 
against thee? Art thou unfriended, dejected, 
unpitied, without help and without sympathy ? 


no 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


Think what a friend thou hast in heaven; 
what relation thou mayest claim to Him, and 
how good and ready He is to hear, to succor, 
and to bless. Think how He invites all them 
that labor and are heavy laden to bring their 
wants and woes to Him, to cast their burdens 
and distresses upon Him. O, let not thy spirit 
sink, but with hope and consolation say, u I 
will arise and go to my Father.” Do it then, 
and do it now.” 

Just as I am, and waiting not 
To rid my soul of one dark blot, 

To Thee, whose Blood can cleanse each spot, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 


THE WAY OF PARDON. 


Isa. 55: 7. —Let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the 
Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, 
for He will abundantly pardon. 

M ORE gracious words than these are hardly 
to be found. They so fully express the 
whole substance of the Gospel, that those who 
understand the matter would not willingly let 
them die. Indeed, whole libraries could be bet¬ 
ter spared than this single text. And a more 
pertinent Lenten call than it furnishes does not 
exist. 

Some think it refers only to the utterly god¬ 
less and wicked, and does not apply to Chris¬ 
tians. But the glory of it is, that it takes in all 
out of harmony with God and His requirements, 
whether much or little, in the Church or not. 
It holds out salvation to the guiltiest and the 
worst, and the best of us would be sadly left, if 
the precious offer did not include us also. Uni¬ 
versal humanity is deeply severed from its Cre¬ 
ator, and the difference between the worst and 
the best is only one of degree. We are sinners 


hi 


112 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


all, and but for God’s mercy and pardoning grace 
there would be no hope for any one. We are all 
partakers of a sinful nature. All are continually 
being betrayed or driven into what God cannot 
approve. And a blessed thing it is that such a 
word from heaven exists. 

We have here, first of all, a very encouraging 
assurance of the divine goodness and grace. In 
the ordinary course of things we can expect 
nothing but severity and judgment. None of us 
deserves anything better. But here comes word 
of God’s readiness to deal kindly with us, and to 
forgive all the sins and wrongs we have commit¬ 
ted against Him. Many lessons of divine wis¬ 
dom, power and goodness appear in the works of 
creation ; but nature’s laws know nothing of for¬ 
giveness of sins, and there is no escape for those 
who transgress them. It is only the Book of 
Revelation that tells us God is merciful and gra¬ 
cious, slow to anger, and abundant in mercy, 
forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin. The 
heathen thought He might possibly pardon, pro¬ 
vided some way of approaching Him and enlist¬ 
ing His favor could be found; but, in the Gospel, 
He comes to us, and proffers free forgiveness for 
those who come to Him. He promises to accept 
and pardon even the unworthiest and the vilest. 


THE WAY OF PARDON. 


1 13 

And yet there are certain conditions on which 
these mercies and favors depend. Some only 
despise the Word, do not at all believe in it, and 
go on in their own godless ways, willing to risk 
the consequences. But where such a condition 
holds, there can be no forgiveness. 

The wicked cannot take his sins with him 
into heaven. They must be given up in order to 
be pardoned. If unwilling to abandon evil ways, 
there is no pardon for the delinquent. People 
have their own ways, which they do not like 
to have disturbed, and find it inconvenient to 
change. Immorality, profaneness, godless gay- 
ety, Mammon worship, unbelief, or the flattering 
indulgence of one’s own likes and pleasure, 
regardless of God and His requirements, must be 
forsaken. A mere spurt of profession, or fit of 
passing emotion, or tearful promise to do better, 
or even a temporary break in the old manner of 
life, is not enough. The river must be crossed, 
and the bridge destroyed against any return. 

Nay, there must be a forsaking of the very 
thoughts that run in the wrong direction. 
These sacred things require a clean heart, as 
well as correct outward demeanor. The love of 
evil must be crucified, as well as the doing of 
evil. Thought must be disciplined, as well as 
8 


114 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

the life; for “as a man thinketh in his heart,so 
is he.” The entertainment of worldly, selfish, 
vain, envious, angry, covetous, impure, and un¬ 
believing thoughts, are as much a hindrance to 
the divine favor, as unsavory deeds. 

And, above all, there must be “return unto 
the Lord.” While sin severs from God, it does 
not sever one’s obligations to Him, or from His 
rights and claims in and over us. God is still 
God ; and what has usurped His place in our 
affections and regard must be dethroned and cast 
out, and His inalienable rights acknowledged. 
Reform and betterment without reference to 
Him cannot heal the ailment of the soul. Nei¬ 
ther can we escape the deadly evil without Him. 
Only through the mediation of Christ, and the 
help of the Holy Ghost, can we come into right 
attitude and standing before Him. To the Lord 
we must therefore come, despairing of ever sav¬ 
ing ourselves by our reforms and works. Re¬ 
turning to Him means faith in Him and His 
gracious overtures, and trustful looking to Him 
as our gracious Father and Lord. And wherein¬ 
soever we have departed from Him, we are to 
return to Him. 

And if the wicked and unrighteous thus return 
unto the Lord, the promise is positive, that 


THE WAY OF PARDON. 115 

“He will have mercy, and abundantly pardon.*’ 
Here, as in many other places, assurance is com¬ 
plete. Our God delighteth in mercy. He is not 
willing that any should perish, but that all 
should come unto Him as their Saviour. And 
everywhere He invites the wayward and erring, 
in loving tenderness, just to come to Him that 
they may have life. His mercy is free ; and it is 
abundant, exceeding all our necessities and all 
our sins. “As the heaven is high above the 
earth, so great is His mercy to them that fear 
Him.” There is a blessed home, and a gracious 
welcome, for every returning prodigal, if only 
he will abandon his evil ways and return. 

Here, then, is blessed opportunity for us. 
Have we been neglectful of prayer and duty, for¬ 
getful of God, yielding where we should have 
stood firm, consulting flesh and blood instead of 
God’s demands, and conforming to the world and 
its vanities in place of setting it an example of 
sobriety and righteousness? Here is our hope. 
God offers to forgive us all, if we will but return 
to Him. Has some besetting sin carried us cap¬ 
tive? Here is our refuge. If now we humbly 
seek forgiveness, God will not judge us for it. I 
think we all must confess that we have not been 
living as near to God and as true to our profes- 


Il6 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

sion, as we might, and as we should. Before 
God, who of us dare claim to be without fault, 
failure, and many deviations from the right? 
But here is our consolation, that God is gra¬ 
cious ; that He is willing and ready to pardon us, 
if only our hearts are set to love and serve Him. 
Yea, whatever may have been our past, if now 
willing to turn away from beholding vanity, and 
to give ourselves to our Lord, though our sins 
and faults be many and great, He pledges Him¬ 
self to forgive us all. 

But let us not deceive ourselves. It will not 
do to presume on God’s mercy, while we make 
no change for the bettering of our ways. There 
is no word of comfort or hope to those who wil¬ 
fully persist in what they know to be unchris¬ 
tian. Nor will it do to indulge the belief that 
God is too good and merciful to note our little 
aberrations, or to hold us accountable for our 
sins. 

Even the righteous, if they turn away from 
the right, will lose all the benefit of their right¬ 
eousness. Though we have obtained mercy, we 
mistake to think that it will hold good whether 
we concern ourselves about it or not. Daily sin¬ 
ning and falling short, calls for daily repenting, 
and ever fresh return unto the Lord, that He 


THE WAY OF PARDON. 


II7 


may have mercy upon us, and not enter into 
judgment with us. 

And with all, let us not fail to take in the 
comfort which the assurance of the text was 
meant to give; but use every opportunity, and 
exert every power, to come nearer and ever 
nearer to our God, who is so loving and merciful 
to us. Common gratitude, as well as our own 
eternal peace, calls for this. The penitential 
season is here, and let us use it to the best 
advantage that we can. 

O Jesus, Saviour of the lost, 

My Rock and Hiding place, 

By storms of sin and sorrow tossed, 

I seek Thy sheltering grace. 


THE HELPFUL EXPEDIENT. 


Eph. 6: 18.—-Praying always with all prayer and sup¬ 
plication in the Spirit. 



HESB words of the Apostle bring up the 


1 subject of prayer,—a matter of the ut¬ 
most practical importance to Christian life. It 
belongs to the condition of man to pray. It 
is one of the first duties we owe to God, to 
ourselves and to our fellow men, to pray. 
Our chief resource and consolation amid the 
vicissitudes and trials of this world is to pray. 
And if people would do more praying and less 
faultfinding and complaining, life would be a 
far happier thing for them and for the Church. 

Many have very imperfect ideas of what 
prayer is. To many it is a very formal mat¬ 
ter. They imagine there must be a careful 
arrangement of ideas, and the mustering of 
knowledge to be told to the Almighty. Pro¬ 
per forms, right apprehensions of God, and 
due thoughtfulness of what we are about, are 
important; but the essence of prayer is very 
simple. “Prayer is the heart’s sincere desire, 
uttered, or unexpressed.” It is the imploring 


THE HELPFUL EXPEDIENT. 119 

look of the soul to the good Father in heaven, 
amid our many wants and weaknesses. 

No special science is required. We are in a 
manner born to it. It is written upon our 
hearts as we come into the world. Any one 
is able to ask a favor from a parent or a 
friend; and such asking is praying. 

There was no one to teach the Syrophceni- 
cian woman how to pray. She was a heathen, 
and knew neither the law nor the prophets. 
Yet she could pray, and did it most effectually. 
Through common rumor she heard and was 
persuaded of Christ’s power, and feeling the 
affliction and sorrow in her home, she was 
well enough taught by her own nature to 
carry her tale of woe to Jesus, and to entreat 
of Him to have compassion on her, and heal 
her child. This she did, and persevered in it 
against every outward discouragement, and 
gained the favor she craved. She rose to no 
sublime heights in the offering of her peti¬ 
tions, as neither did the poor publican; but 
what her heart felt she presented, in the sim¬ 
plest and most direct way; and therein lay 
her power with Christ. And if people were 
as interested and earnest about their standing 
with God and their eternal salvation as for 


120 


EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


temporal fortune and bodily health, they would 
need no drilling in the divine art of prayer. 
The heart of itself would pour forth in sup¬ 
plication, as did the heart of Samuel’s mother 
before the ark of the Tord. 

And there is everything to impel us to con¬ 
stancy and perseverence in prayer. No one is 
just up to what he ought to be, and most are in 
need of great mercy, forgiveness and grace in 
order to stand in the great day. And with 
all our sins and guilt upon us, and the temp¬ 
tations that are about us continually, and the 
wrecks and failures that we have experienced 
in what we thought and meant for improve¬ 
ment, ought to be enough to drive us to hum¬ 
ble and constant supplication to Him who 
alone can forgive, help, and save. 

With all the goodness of God, and all the 
great benefits and blessings He offers, He 
waits to be inquired of, to do for uS. His 
word is, “Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, 
and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be 
opened unto you.’’ And if we do not value 
the divine favor enough to crave and ask for 
it, we cannot have it. 

Nor can we ever be wanting in subjects and 
occasions for prayer. Apart from our own 


THE HELPFUL EXPEDIENT. 121 

special necessities, every occurrence or accident, 
and almost every moment, furnishes fresh call 
for the lifting of the soul to God. The world 
that surges around us, saints and sinners, 
things public and things domestic, the misfor¬ 
tunes of some and the prosperity of others,— 
everything that meets the eye, touches the 
feelings, or startles the soul, supplies topic for 
the direction of the thoughts heavenward, in 
devout lament, entreaty, or thanksgiving. 

And yet there is apt to be great backward¬ 
ness, and even dislike to prayer; and hence 
much neglect of it. Though nothing is more 
unjust and harmful than to estrange ourselves 
from God by neglect of communion with Him, 
many will have a very sorrowful reckoning to 
give on this account. 

It is no excuse for people to say that they 
cannot enjoy prayer,—that it is repulsive to 
them,—that they can see no use in it. Such 
a condition of mind is itself a reason for cry¬ 
ing mightily unto God. Disgust for prayer 
argues great lukewarmness, infidelity and world¬ 
liness of life, which must be arrested or bring 
ruin. And so far from justifying the omission 
and neglect of prayer, this very dislike of it 
should all the more drive to it. 


122 


EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


The way to overcome reluctance to prayer is, 
to pray. It is the practice of prayer that best 
prepares for prayer. There must be familiarity 
with it to beget pleasure in it. Nor will the 
disrelish to prayer render our prayers vain, if 
in honest will and mind we set ourselves to 
answer the claims and duties of piety. The 
great matter is to pray anyhow, and to use 
our powers to live and do as we pray. God 
knows our trials, and He will not cast us off 
because we cannot come to Him in the fullness 
of perfect saintship. 

Many complain that they cannot concentrate 
their thoughts in prayer;—that the mind wan¬ 
ders;—that attention flies off to a dozen other 
things;—and that nothing they do is so unsat¬ 
isfactory to them as their prayers. Well, per¬ 
haps they are not as sincere and earnest in the 
matter as they should be;—perhaps they allow 
themselves too much latitude in the vanities of 
the world, and are too much absorbed with 
what does not comport with proper heavenly¬ 
mindedness;—perhaps they are not as circum¬ 
spect, watchful and conscientious in their man¬ 
ner of life as they ought to be. When the 
heart is full of the world, it is hard for the 
spirit of prayer to get in. God also sometimes 


THE HELPFUL EXPEDIENT. 123 

chastises His professed people for their worldli¬ 
ness by leaving them to flounder in their weak¬ 
ness and distractions until they come to a more 
resolved and decided dutifulness and fidelity. 

But even when the heart and mind are all 
right in other respects, these wanderings of 
thought and distractions of attention cannot 
always be avoided, and need not distress or 
dishearten us. Not every one has the mental 
discipline and self-command to abstract himself 
entirely from the current of things around him. 
The Saviour knows our weakness, and the 
Spirit will help our infirmities. Therefore we 
must pray on as best we can, however far we 
may fall short of what we would like. It was 
the quaint saying of an old saint, that a man 
should deal with distractions in prayer, as with 
dogs that run out and bark at us; that is, to 
walk on straightforward, paying no attention 
to them. 

’Tis prayer supports the soul that’s weak ; 

Though thought be broken, language lame; 

Pray, if thou canst or canst not speak, 

But pray with faith in Jesus’ Name. 


THE COMFORTING PROMISE. 


Ezek. 36 : 26.—A new heart also will I give you, and a 
new spirit will I put within you: I will take away the 
stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart 
of flesh. 


NEW HEART —Why a new heart? 



l\ The answer is given: the old heart 
will not do: it is a “stony heart.” Tike a 
stone it is cold. Like a stone it is hard —full 
of resistance—cannot be indented—difficult to 
impress or melt. Like a stone it is heavy — 
ponderating downward—prone to imbed itself 
in the earth, and to harbor filthy things. And 
like a stone, it is dead —has no life, no feeling, 
no power of self-motion ; it is inanimate and 
speechless, for it is stone. 

Few, perhaps, would be ready to admit that 
their hearts are of such description ; and where 
the Spirit of God has done its work a better 
order of things doubtless exists. And even 
natural and unregenerate people may have 
many tender, noble and generous qualities. 
But no one is born with the love of God in 
him; and the masses of mankind never come 


124 


THE COMFORTING PROMISE. 125 

to reconciliation with Him. Though subsisting 
on the divine bounty, and living only by di¬ 
vine forbearance, they are never moved to 
thankfulness, never touched with any warm 
emotions towards the gracious Giver and Sup¬ 
porter of their lives. They have warmth, and 
zest, and activity in other things, and often 
very questionable things; but in matters relat¬ 
ing to God and salvation, they are cold, indif¬ 
ferent, unimpressible, dead, for their hearts in 
these respects are stony. 

In Ezekiel’s time there were many who reck¬ 
oned themselves God’s people, listened to the 
prophet’s words, and enjoyed his eloquence, as 
one that played well on an instrument; but, 
while they heard God’s words, they did them 
not. The truth did not penetrate. Their 
hearts were stony, too hard to be impressed, 
too dead to be moved. And so it is with many, 
whose vows are upon God’s altar. They at¬ 
tend upon God’s house; but are not cured of 
their worldliness—not softened to pious affec¬ 
tions—not spiritually alive. Their hearts are 
cold, hard, and dead to sacred things; for they 
are stony. 

Plainly enough, all such need new hearts— 
hearts of flesh—hearts that can feel,—hearts 


126 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


that warm to the name of Jesus,—hearts that 
can be moved to be and do what becometh a 
right man. 

A new heart .—But whence or how is such a 
change to come. In our own strength we are 
helpless. A broken bone may knit and unite; 
an enfeebled constitution may be built up 
again; but there are no powers in nature to 
change a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. 
You may paint a stone, or polish it, or hew it 
into a beautiful shape. You may ornament it 
with gold, adorn it with costly attentions, put 
it up in your cabinet as a noble gem. You 
may make of it a statue that seems as if it must 
breathe. But, with all that you can do with 
it, or for it, it remains just what it was at 
first,—hard, dumb, dead stone. 

But what we cannot do for ourselves, or for 
one another, God can do, and says He will do, 
to every one that is willing and obedient. His 
word to those who give ear is, “A new heart 
will / give you, and a new spirit will / put 
within you.” And what He proposes and 
promises to do, He can do. He can make 
flesh out of rocks, and is doing it continually. 

Man’s body was made out of the dust of the 
earth. Our flesh originated and is sustained 


THE COMFORTING PROMISE. 127 

from the soil and its productions. And what 
is the dust, or the soil, but a manipulated 
sediment from disintegrated rocks. From the 
rocks come clay, and grass, and flesh. And 
thus, in the activities of nature around us, we 
have a vast laboratory of God for the chang¬ 
ing of stone into flesh. And He who can thus 
convert cold, hard, dead rock into warm, pul¬ 
sating, living flesh, can be at no loss to change 
stony hearts. 

And the process in the one case is much 
like that in the other. The hammer and fire 
of the Word must be brought to bear upon 
.the stony heart, to break, subdue, and melt it. 
And when the hard and stubborn heart is sub¬ 
dued into penitence and contrition it is on the 
way to quite a new order and condition. The 
coldness toward the things of God and salva¬ 
tion yields, the old deadness takes on new life, 
and it is soon manifest that a heart of flesh has 
taken the place of the old stony heart. 

Just how it comes, we cannot always tell. 
There is a degree of mystery in all the divine 
operations. We can understand the means, and 
experience the change; but we cannot trace the 
processes, any more than we can tell how the 
lilies grow. God puts His spirit to work within 


128 


EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


us; and, as we become anxious and earnest about 
our standing with God, we know that a change 
of mind, interest and aim has somehow been 
wrought; and that change evidences a heart 
that can feel and act, as the old stony heart 
never did. 

A new heart .—To what end and intent ? 
The answer is, that we may walk in God’s 
statutes, and keep His judgments, and do them. 

There is something about the natural heart 
which regards religion and its duties as irksome 
and unpleasant. Its pleasure and gratification 
are in quite other things. It is ready to take 
up with, and expend prodigally upon, anything 
rather than the requirements of God. The 
reason is, that the heart is wrong. The new 
heart is a heart to hear God’s word, to observe 
His ordinances, to do His will, and to be on 
terms with Him. Where obedience, honest ef¬ 
fort, and conscientious fidelity in these things 
are wanting, there is no true love of God, and 
no such hearts as ought to be in us. 

God would have it different. His will is to 
make us His willing and obedient children. 
And so He is continually active, by His Spirit, 
word and providence, to work in us a new crea¬ 
tion unto righteousness and true holiness. Of 


THE COMFORTING PROMISE. 129 

course, mere works, formalities, and outside per¬ 
formances of our own, will not do We can 
never be saved by our works; but neither can 
we be saved without them. A new heart must 
show itself in the life. There can be no life 
without a heart; but a mere heart which does 
not manifest itself in outward activities, fails of 
its purpose, and is of but little worth. A new 
heart is a heart for duty—a heart that delights 
in knowing wherewithal it can please God, and 
is happiest in doing what it can for Him. 

The very first inquiry of Saul of Tarsus as 
the light of God shone into his heart was, 
“Lord, what wilt Thou have me do?” And 
with the will of God made plain, the renewed 
man never hesitates and never tires. Unlike the 
hireling, he does not watch the clock lest he 
should give more service than his task, but finds 
Christian life and duty a joy and blessedness. 

How is it then with us ? We profess to be 
Christians; have we then got rid of the hard 
and stony heart of indifference and unbelief! 
The Word and Spirit of God have reached us, 
and touched us, and made their promptings felt; 
have we then responded to them with a cheer¬ 
ful, fond, and obedient heart? We have had 
many and great opportunities; have we grate- 


9 


130 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

fully embraced them, and duly profited by 
them? This is the inquiry which we need to 
put to ourselves, especially in connection with 
these services. 

It is important, and very desirable, that we 
should have at least one special season of the 
year in which to bring ourselves to close spirit¬ 
ual account. The mariner at sea must often 
take his bearings, to make sure that he is 
moving in the right direction. Otherwise he 
is in danger of missing his aim, or making 
shipwreck. And we are under like necessity 
in order to make a safe passage over the sea of 
life. We are liable to drift away from the right 
course, if we are not careful to take our bear¬ 
ings. And once a year at least, should we 
make it a point to sober our thoughts, consider 
our ways, and try to bring ourselves by special 
sacrifices and services into closer touch with 
God and the renewing power of His word and 
Spirit. 

The past is past; we can do nothing with 
that; but the present, with its new privileges 
and fresh calls, is ours. Let us then endeavor 
to improve it to our profit. God means us well. 
The Church means us well. And with becom¬ 
ing zeal and diligence should we entreat of the 


THE COMFORTING PROMISE. 131 

Lord to create in us clean hearts, and to renew 
right spirits within us; that what He proposes 
and promises in the text may be fulfilled in us. 
For there is no better thing for us to crave or- 
possess, than this new heart and new spirit. 

O for a heart to praise my God,— 

A heart from sin set free,— 

A heart that always feels the Blood 
So freely shed for me! 

O for a lowly contrite heart, 

Believing, true, and clean ! 

Which neither life nor death can part 
From Him that dwells within ! ~ 

A heart in every thought renewed, 

And filled with love divine; 

Perfect, and right, and pure, and good, 

A copy, Lord, of Thine. 


WEAK FAITH REPROVED. 


John ii : 40. —Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest 
believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God ? 

S UCH is our state in this world, that we are 
often visited with afflictions and trials. 
There is no life so bright, but it has its dark 
days. And when these times of sorrow come, 
even believers are apt to lose heart, and find it 
difficult to rise to the full exercise of their faith. 

It was so in the case of Martha, to whom these 
words of the Saviour were originally addressed. 
She was a friend of Jesus, and a thorough 
believer. She could say to Him, “Yea, Lord; I 
believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, 
which should come into the world.” But a sore 
affliction came. Her only brother Lazarus fell 
sick unto death. She believed in the miraculous 
power of Jesus over all manner of ailments, and 
that God would do for Him whatsoever He 
would ask. So she and her sister sent in great 
haste to Him, though then a full day’s journey 
distant, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom Thou 
lovest is sick,” expecting that He would come at 
once and heal her brother. 


132 


WEAK FAITH REPROVED. I 33 

When people get into trouble, they are apt to 
expect more of God than may be according to 
His will. Jesus did not respond to this call as 
was hoped. Instead of answering the summons, 
“He abode two days still in the same place 
where He was.” But He sent a message, saying, 
“This sickness is not unto death, but for the 
glory of God, that the Sou of God might be 
glorified thereby.” 

And while He delayed, Lazarus died. Jesus 
was aware of the fact, spoke of it to His disci¬ 
ples, and said, “Let us go unto him.” And by 
the time He reached Bethany, the man had been 
dead four days, and had been laid away in the 
grave. 

Hearing of His arrival, Martha hastened to 
meet Him ; and her first words, were words of 
complaint, if they did not have in them a tinge 
of censure. She said unto Jesus, “ Lord, if Thou 
hadst been here, my brother had not died.” 
And so it is ; when the Lord does not do for peo¬ 
ple exactly as they wish, they are disposed to 
prescribe, and prone to find fault with provi¬ 
dence ; or to think they are not rightly treated. 
A woman, sorely crossed in life, once said to me, 
that she and God had fallen out. That was an 
extreme case; but Martha felt something of it. 


134 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

And I have found the same, alas, too often, in 
people who in general believe. 

But Jesus pitied Martha in her grief, and said 
to her, “Thy brother shall rise again.” Yet, 
here also, her faith in a measure faltered. She 
believed in a far distant resurrection of all men, 
but could not take in that He who was finally to 
raise from their graves all that sleep in Him, 
could then and there restore her brother to life. 
Jesus said to her, “ I am the Resurrection and 
the Life; he that believeth in Me though he 
were dead, yet shall he live.” Yes, she could 
believe that He was the Christ, the Son of God, 
but could not realize to herself that what was 
said could be then and there effective. And so, 
notwithstanding the great and precious promises 
of God, many, who really believe, when deep 
distress is upon them, cannot exactly satisfy 
themselves that these promises can avail in the 
immediate present. They are apt to' feel as if 
the trouble were too deep even for the Almighty 
Himself to handle. They believe; but for the 
present exigency they cannot feel it in His power 
to be and do all that He says. The calamity so 
oppresses, that poor human nature is disposed to 
think it too much for God, and doubts even 
while it believes. 


WEAK FAITH REPROVED. 135 

But in the midst of the distress and gloom, 
which caused the blessed Lord to weep, He led 
the sorrowing ones to the tomb where Lazarus 
was laid, and commanded that the stone should 
be taken from its mouth. And here again, 
Martha discounted the Saviour’s power, and 
interfered to tell Him that her brother’s body 
by this time was decomposing, and in no state to 
be touched or even looked upon. Why open his 
grave ! 

Alas, why should she undertake to advise her 
gracious Lord, or think to stay His doings? 
Was He not the Christ, the Son of God, as she 
had confessed she believed? Was He not compe¬ 
tent to direct Himself? Did He not know what 
He was about ? Why could she not keep quiet, 
and wait, and trust, and see the end ? Had He 
not assured her from the beginning that this 
death was not, but for the glory of God? Did 
He not tell her in so many words, that her 
brother should rise again ? Had she not 
thrown herself open to reproof? Yet such is 
the frailty of our nature that, when trouble is 
upon us, it is hard to stand firmly to what we 
believe and confess. The best are often thus 
at fault, and deserve to be reprimanded and 
rebuked. 


136 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

And as the Saviour had frequent occasion to 
chide His disciples, He here gave a reminder, 
and a word of rebuke, to Martha. “Jesus saith 
unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou 
wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of 
God?” Ah, it is an unfortunate thing to doubt 
the word, or question the doings of the Lord. It 
is offensive to Him, and it is a misfortune to our¬ 
selves. He ever means us more and greater good 
than we think or dream; and we dishonor Him, 
and damage our own peace, by our doubts and 
questionings. “ Be not afraid; only believe,” is 
the word that He ever speaks. And therein lies 
our greatest blessedness. 

But, although the Saviour rebuked Martha’s 
unbelief and doubtings, it was with the greatest 
gentleness. She was a believer. She did love 
and trust in Him, notwithstanding these weak¬ 
nesses. And she was weighted at the time with 
a great and sore bereavement, for which allow¬ 
ance was to be made. Not, therefore, as a harsh 
master, but as a tender father would reprove a 
beloved child, He upbraided her lack of faith, 
and reminded her of what He had said and prom¬ 
ised, which should have been enough. 

And so it often is with us. We believe, and 
yet only half believe. We have the Saviour’s 


WEAK FAITH REPROVED. 


137 


word, and yet it gets so driven from our thoughts 
and obscured to us by the pressure of outward 
anxieties, that it passes for little or nothing. 
Alas, how often do we need the Saviour’s rebuke 
for not resting more on His word—for not taking 
in what He says and promises ! And a great 
mercy it is that we are not visited with far 
greater severity, because of our slowness to 
believe and trust in His wisdom, goodness and 
power. 

And yet, with all Martha’s fears, weaknesses 
and misgivings, the Saviour called forth her bro¬ 
ther from his grave, and restored him to life and 
place in that precious home. It was a wonderful 
miracle. And weak and erring as we are, Jesus 
is willing and ready to do more and better for us 
than we dare venture to ask or think. Nor is 
there a woe or sorrow allowed to come upon 
those who love Him, which He is not pledged to 
overrule for our greater good, if only we put our 
implicit trust in Him. Even in ways of which 
we never once dream, He is moving to open up 
deliverance and blessing which we would have 
thought impossible. Trusting in Jesus, we shall 
see the gloom dispersed, and the glory of God 
revealed in fullness and splendor that calls for 
everlasting thanks and adoration. 


138 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

Learn then, dear friends, the lessons that come 
to us from this incident. 

We should remember the words of the Lord 
Jesus, and treasure in our minds and hearts 
everything that He hath condescended to say to 
us. He has given us many “exceeding great 
and precious promisesand it is both our duty 
and our best consolation to lay hold upon them, 
to believe them, and to rely implicitly upon 
them. There may be mystery about His way of 
fulfilling them. To us they may be hampered 
with difficulties, obscured by inexplicable de¬ 
lays, and seemingly beyond possibility. But 
they are all plain to Jesus, and meant to be made 
good in all the fullness of their meaning. What¬ 
ever may be in the way in our estimate, they are 
sure to be fulfilled to us, even beyond all our 
imaginings. So it was in this case; and so it 
will ever be. 

And another important lesson is, that the more 
our faith relies 011 Jesus, the greater will be His 
interpositions in our behalf. It belongs to God 
to honor faith. It has been characteristic of 
Him in all ages, under all dispensations. It was 
so with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, 
Joshua, and unnumbered others, whose names 
are in the book of God. Nay, the greater the 


WEAK FAITH REPROVED. 


39 


trial, the sublimer the issue. No matter what 
the obstructions or seeming impossibilities, they 
will all yield where faith holds fast to the hand 
and promises of the Lord. He will see us 
through. If only we stagger not at His word, 
He will give grace and glory. Therefore, trust 
in the Lord at all times. 

Give to the winds thy fears; 

Hope and be undismayed; 

God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears, 

He will lift up thy head. 

What though thou rulest not, 

Yet heaven, and earth, and hell 

Proclaim, God sitteth on the throne, 

And ruleth all things well. 

Leave to His sovereign sway 
To choose and to command; 

So shalt thou wondering own, His way 
How wise, how strong His hand ! 


THE HINDRANCE TO GRACE. 


Mark 13 : 58.—And He did not many mighty works 
there because of their unbelief. 

HIS was at Nazareth, where Jesus spent 



1 most of His life. He had once before 
presented Himself to His friends and relatives 
there, as verily the Messiah of whom the pro¬ 
phets had spoken. But they treated Him as a 
blasphemer, and sought to kill Him. Never¬ 
theless, He returned to them again; for His 
love for souls is not easily quenched. He was 
there to help and bless, and they were the peo¬ 
ple in need of His gracious ministrations. He 
was there “to preach good tidings unto the 
meek ; to build up the broken-hearted; to pro¬ 
claim liberty to the captives; to give unto 
them that mourn beauty for ashes, the oil of 
joy for mourning, the garment of praise for 
the spirit of heaviness.’’ 

For this glorious Messenger of God they had 
been hoping and waiting for generations, and 
were not without expectation that the time of 
His coming had arrived. The poor, blind and 
sick were there wanting to be healed, the hun- 


THE HINDRANCE TO GRACE. 141 

gry wanting to be fed, the slaves of sin and 
Satan wanting to be delivered, and many anx¬ 
ious and perplexed souls wanting light, help 
and consolation. And before them was the 
great Healer, Deliverer and Consoler, ready 
and eager to do for them according to their 
need. But something kept His saving power 
at bay. He could not go on with His merci¬ 
ful doings, and “did not many mighty works 
there because of their unbelief ” 

We wonder at these people, and feel like 
blaming them for their hard-heartedness, pre¬ 
judices and unfaith. And yet we are much in 
danger of repeating their folly. 

Jesus came into the world to do great things 
for its needy and ailing population,—more than 
heal a few sick, cleanse a few lepers, and 
comfort a few mourners. He came to do a 
work in people’s souls, of which these were 
only the parables. He came to rescue and 
lead back those who had gone astray from 
God, and were perishing in their sins. He 
came “to seek and to save that which was 
lost,” and to give eternal life to all believers. 
To this end He has been presenting Himself 
to the children of men through all the ages, 
and is still presenting Himself to all who 


142 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

hear His Gospel. And the thoughts, and 
wills, and lives of many sinful mortals has He 
chastened, purified and blessed; enlightened 
their eyes, strengthened their hands, and re¬ 
joiced their souls. 

And what He came to do for mankind in 
general, He has come to do for every one of 
ns. He means that we should be the subjects 
of that same grace which has brought back so 
many from sin to God, and given them new 
life, new hopes, and spiritual peace in Him. 
Everything of good that He has ever done for 
others, He is present to do for each of us. 
Gladly would He lift everyone out of the bog 
and misery of sin, and make us the children 
of the living God, be to us a help and com¬ 
fort in all our trials and distresses in life, our 
consolation in death, our joy and glory in the 
world to come. 

Nor is there anything to hinder Him but 
our unbelief. He is abundantly able to do 
all He proposes; but the soul of man is 
free; and may resist His grace, and make 
His saving power of none effect. It is a 
fearfully solemn thought, but true, that we 
may even limit God in this respect, and thwart 
the merciful doings of the Almighty. There is 


THE HINDRANCE TO GRACE. 143 

no numbering of the influences by which He 
seeks to convince and persuade men to accept 
and trust in Him. But, after all, there re¬ 
mains with us the awful liberty of determin¬ 
ing whether or not He is to be our salvation. 
Our indifference, our selfish likes, our preju¬ 
dices, our worldly prepossessions, and our own 
fond conceits, may raise such barriers against 
Him, that it would be better for us if He had 
never come, or never offered to be to us a 
Saviour. Where unbelief stands in the way, 
His saving work must stop. 

Nor does it require the unbelief of the skep¬ 
tic or infidel to work the mischief. We may 
not deny or speak against His word or claims. 
We may not be wedded to a mistaken faith. 
We may even acquiesce in the doctrines of the 
cross, yet effectually hinder His gracious work 
upon our souls. There is an unbelief of heart, 
which dislikes the trouble of thinking on the 
things which we do not doubt or dispute,—an 
unbelief of carelessness, neglect, and inert lazi¬ 
ness of spirit,—an unbelief which counts on 
heaven, but never concerns itself with earnest¬ 
ness of endeavor and prayer to be in living 
harmony with Christ and His word. And what 
indeed will His coming, His Passion, His power, 


144 LENTENTIBE SERMONETTES. 

His Spirit, and His marvellous grace be to us, 
if met with an empty, thoughtless, indifferent, 
frivolous soul? We need not doubt them, dis¬ 
believe them, or deny them, in order to pre¬ 
vent their purpose from being fulfilled in us. 
Mere lack of serious wakefulness to their real 
worth, or the absence of spirit to get out of 
our old negligent ways, is enough to thwart 
the saving goodness of our gracious Lord. 

Dear friends, let us not deceive ourselves 
with false hopes, vain wishes, and fruitless 
confessions. We need help and healing, and 
Christ is here to do for us all that is neces¬ 
sary. We need to be better men and women, 
more thoughtful, more earnest, more active, 
more devout; and Jesus is ready and waiting 
to do for us, to strengthen, comfort and save 
us. But our hearts must be open to Him. 
We must welcome and cleave to Him. We 
must submit ourselves trustfully to His will. 
There must be no idle trifling with the truth 
we acknowledge and confess. There must be 
no shrinking from the meaning of our own 
words—no lazy indifference to our convictions. 
Otherwise we shall be none the better for 
these Lenten services,—none the better for 
these visitations of our Lord. 


THE HINDRANCE TO GRACE. 


145 


Hearing them, let us hear with willing and 
obedient hearts. Praying, let us pray with the 
spirit and with the understanding. And doing, 
let us do our best; that it may not be written of 
us, that Jesus “did not many mighty works 
there because of their unbelief.” 

Lord, help us through the prayer of faith 
More firmly to believe ! 

For still the more the servant hath, 

The more shall he receive. 

O help us, Jesus, from on high! 

We know no help but Thee: 

O help us so live and die 
As Thine in heaven to be ! 

10 


THE BLESSED ASSURANCE. 


John i : 12.— But as many as received Him, to them 
gave He power to become the sons of God, even to 
them that believe on His name. 


S Philip Melanchthon lay upon his dying 



ii. bed, and knew that the time of his de¬ 
parture had come, his mind fixed upon this 
text, as the foundation of his hope and com¬ 
fort. To his sorrowing and anxious friends, he 
said, “ This word of John, concerning the Son 
of God, my Lord Jesus Christ, I keep con¬ 
stantly before my mind.” And resting on this 
word he passed away in peaceful anticipation 
of a blessed eternity. 

The Apostle John wrote this word, as a 
thing of which he had personal experience; 
and it is preserved in the sacred Record for 
just such comfort and consolation for Christian 
believers as Melanchthon found in it. Jesus 
came into the world to be its Redeemer. He 
came first to His own, but His own received 
Him not. This the Apostle knew and re¬ 
gretted, adding however, u But to as many as 


THE BLESSED ASSURANCE. 147 

received Him, to them gave He power to be¬ 
come the sons of God, even to them that believe 
on His Name.” 

There is a natural sonship, which pertains to 
all men ; for we are all the offspring of God’s 
creative power. But the Apostle is speaking 
of a special sonship. It is a sonship of 
adoption. But it is more than simple adoption. 
It involves a spiritual regeneration, which 
carries with it some of the elements of na¬ 
tural sonship also. And a very blessed estate 
it is. 

A true child of a true father has peculiar 
place in that father’s regard and affection; and 
to be a child of God, is to have place in the 
heart of God, in His love, in His sympathy, 
in His tender care. His ears are open to that 
child’s cries. His almightiness is ever at 
command for its protection and help. Divine 
sonship means sublime dignity. It connects 
with the royal family. It secures the place of 
princes. It brings into the same household 
with Prophets, and Apostles, and the good and 
great of all lands and ages. It makes com¬ 
patriots with angels, and entitles to heirship 
with the eternal Son himself. It makes us 
brothers and sisters of Moses, Elijah and 


148 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

Isaiah; of Jesus, Peter, James, John, Luther, 
and the whole family of those whose names 
are written in heaven. 

Nay, more, the children of God have the 
lineaments and likeness of the heavenly Father. 
Born into the family of God, we become like 
Him, and exhibit in some degree the same 
moral qualities. If truly God’s children, we 
become merciful as He is merciful, holy as 
He is holy, good as He is good, and show 
something of the moral attributes which ap¬ 
pear in Him who has begotten us to this new 
relationship. 

Yes, a very great, very glorious thing it is 
to be a child of God. It is indeed the sum 
and crown of human exaltation and blessed¬ 
ness. The question then arises:—How can we 
obtain “the power to become the sons of 
God?” 

That power certainly does not reside in us. 
We can no more beget ourselves to divine 
sonship than we could beget ourselves to being 
in this world. The whole thing is super¬ 
natural. The movement is from above. It 
comes only through Him who was from the 
beginning. 

But neither is it arbitrarily thrust upon us 


THE BLESSED ASSURANCE. 149 

contrary to our will and consent. Although 
our works cannot bring it, our indifference or 
resistance can defeat it. Christ came to His 
own, and His own received Him not. Their 
opposing will stood out against Him, and they 
failed to obtain the boon. “But, to as many 
as received Him, to them gave He power to 
become the sons of God, even to them that 
believed on His Name.” 

The Lord Jesus, then, is the Bringer and 
Source of this renewing and exalting power; 
and the receiving of Him, and believing on 
His Name, are the means of possessing our¬ 
selves of that power. 

Receiving and believing are not two things; 
but one and the same. Receiving Christ is 
believing on His Name; and believing on His 
Name is receiving Him. But there must be 
care to have right ideas of Christ. The Jefws 
condemned Him, because He claimed to be 
the Christ, the Son of the living God. Hence, 
to receive Him, and to believe on His Name 
is to accept and regard Him as verily the Son of 
God, the Christ, the Mediator between God and 
man, who, having atoned for our sins, is now 
at the head of all power to command, protect 
and help us in all our need. And only as we 


150 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

so accept and trust in Him do we truly re¬ 
ceive Him, and believe on His Name. 

And thus He comes to us. It is not in 
our power first to come to Him, therefore 
He comes to us, in His Word, in His Church, 
in the graces of His Spirit, and proclaims 
Himself ready and able to save unto the utter¬ 
most all that receive Him, and trust their 
eternal fortunes into His hands. 

Have we then truly received Him. Have we 
taken Him as our Prophet, to abide by His 
Word and teachings,—as our Priest, to rely 
entirely upon His atonement for forgiveness,— 
as our divine King to go before us in our 
conflicts, to command our activities, and to 
protect and save us in all our duties and ex¬ 
tremities? Let us not forget that this is the 
royal road to celestial honors, and that to as 
many as thus receive Him, the doors of 
heaven stand open, and power to become the 
sons of God is given. 


Lord, give us such a faith as this ! 


FAITH THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS. 


Matt. 9: 29.—According to your faith be it unto you. 

E VERY one who understands Christianity is 
aware of the transcendent importance of 
faith. The Epistle to the Hebrews devotes an 
entire chapter to its nature and its power. St. 
Peter pronounces it “ much more precious than 
gold.” It is from a higher source than gold. It 
is of a finer nature than gold. It is of vastly 
more value than gold ; for it can command 
greater and more enduring good. It is more to 
be relied on than gold ; for it holds firm and 
serves its ends when gold, and all that gold can 
command, is utterly swept away. And so im¬ 
portant a thing is faith, that we cannot be saved 
without it; for u he that believeth not shall be 
condemned,” nay, is “condemned already, be¬ 
cause he hath not believed in the name of the 
only begotten Son of God.” Without faith in 
God, there can be no love of God, and no accept¬ 
able obedience to God; for “Whatsoever is not 
of faith, is sin.” 

But with all the essential work and necessity 


152 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


of faith, it is one of the simplest of mental acts. 
It is one of the commonest things of life to 
believe. We cannot get along at all without it. 
Confidence, trust, belief, in one another, in one 
another’s word, in one another’s virtue, in what 
is told us of things that we have never known or 
seen for ourselves, lies at the foundation of every¬ 
thing. No one ever plants or sows without 
believing that a harvest will come of it. He 
trusts to the stability of the laws of nature. And 
in spiritual things, faith is of the same sort. It 
is trust in what is evidenced to us in the word 
and works of God. It is on the revelations 
which He has made of Himself, that we “ believe 
that He is, and that He is a rewarder of all them 
that diligently seek Himand it is on the 
records and proofs concerning Christ that we 
believe in Him. On the testimony of the Word 
of God, and of the experiences of the Church, 
we believe that He is able and willing to save us 
from sin, to endow us with His Spirit, and to 
be to us a sufficient and everlasting portion. 

What then is faith, but simply taking God at 
His word, as we take the word of any one whom 
we regard as trustworthy and reliable ? It is the 
persuasion and confidence that God is what His 
Revelations show that He is, and that Jesus 


FAITH THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS. 153 

Christ His Son is what the Scriptures testify of 
Him. Those suffering ones whom He helped 
and healed when on earth, believed that He had 
the power to heal them, and they were healed. 
And so we, by believing that He is able to save 
us, are made partakers of His redeeming and 
healing virtues. 

But faith that there is salvation in Jesus needs 
to become a practical persuasion; a confidence 
that leads to action—to application for His help 
and grace. The centurion was not only confi¬ 
dent that a word from Christ could command 
away the disease of his servant; but he did not 
stop at that. He went to Christ, and entreated 
Him to speak that word. The poor woman who 
had suffered so long, and been disappointed so 
often, not only believed that her touch of Christ’s 
garment would restore her, but she pressed her 
way through the crowd to make that touch. 
And this was the sort of faith which obtained 
what it sought, and which is everywhere contem¬ 
plated in the Scriptures as the medium through 
which we are to possess ourselves of Christ’s 
saving benefits. 

The great reason why faith is so essential is, 
its receptive office and power. It is the hand 
that reaches forth, takes, and appropriates the 


154 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

blessing. A man is not rich because he has a 
purse ; and yet he must have some sort of recep¬ 
tacle for his money in order to have riches; and 
although faith in itself cannot contribute a penny 
to salvation, it is the purse or receptacle which 
receives and holds the precious boon. A bucket 
and rope cannot quench the thirst of a thirsty 
man ; but when the water he covets is deep down 
in the well, his bucket and rope are of the 
utmost importance to bring the refreshing 
draught to his lips. And so it is that faith 
serves. It is the bucket by which to draw water 
from the wells of salvation. It is the link of 
connection with the saving virtues that reside 
in Jesus. 

This faith is often weak—so weak that we 
question whether we can safely hope to be saved. 
But it is very precious for all that. Even when 
weak, it may be the beginning for much greater 
things. I have read of the building of a suspen¬ 
sion bridge across a deep chasm through which 
a boisterous river flowed. From crag to crag of 
its precipitous sides it was proposed to hang an 
iron roadway. But the question was, how to 
begin. There was no way to cross the chasm. 
Finally an arrow was shot across, which carried 
with it the end of a small thread ; and that in vis- 


FAITH THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS. 155 

ible thread proved enough to begin with. 
Through it the connection was established. By 
means oi the thin thread, a piece of twine was 
drawn over; then the twine carried after it a 
small rope ; the rope soon carried a cable ; and 
in due time came the iron chains, and all else 
that was needed for a safe highway across the 
rushing river. And so faith, though weak as a 
slender thread, may still suffice to make connec¬ 
tion with Jesus, which, if duly cherished, may 
bring after it all that is requisite to land the 
soul in heaven. 

And yet, the proportion of our enjoyment of 
Christ’s saving benefits, is measured by the 
strength and degree of our faith. The word of 
Jesus ever is, “According to your faith be it 
unto you.” When we doubt, we cannot enjoy. 
Where faith is little, weak, or wavering, our 
comfort in believing will be proportionately fee¬ 
ble. It takes a strong and vigorous faith in 
Christ to bring us full assurance and joy in Him. 
And where faith is confident, trustful, active, 
and strong, there the greatest assurance and 
comfort of hope abound. 

Hence the apostolic direction to “covet ear¬ 
nestly the best gifts,’ ’ and to try to establish our 
hearts in confident and vigorous faith; for there- 


156 lententide sermonettes. 

in lies our highest happiness in this world, and 
our greatest certainty for the world to come. 

How then may we increase our faith so as to 
reach these assurances and consolations? There 
be many things that may contribute to this end ; 
but chief among them we may name these :— 

The first is, to live much upon the Gospel 
offers and promises, especially upon the tender¬ 
ness, love and power of Jesus. Take to heart 
the gracious invitations and assurances of His 
word, and the exhibitions He has made of His 
goodness to those who applied for His merciful 
help, and there will be assurance and comfort. 
Think of the ease and freedom with which He 
showered His benefactions upon all suffering and 
needy ones who besought His favors, knowing 
that He is the same yesterday, to day and for¬ 
ever. In such a Saviour, surely, we ought to be 
able to trust with courageous hope and unshaken 
confidence. 

To this must be added a prompt and loving 
heed to all those inward voices of conscience and 
the Holy Spirit, so as to be strict in avoiding all 
known sin. Nothing so obscures and weakens 
Christian confidence as the giving way to con¬ 
scious wrong doing. And nothing so helps our 
peace in believing as the diligent and prayerful 


FAITH THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS. 


157 


acting out of all known duty, according to the 
grace, strength and opportunity, always remem¬ 
bering that, according to our faith it will be 
to us. 


Lord, let that faith which Thou hast taught 
Be treasured in each breast; 

The evidence of unseen joys, 

The substance of our rest. 

Then shall we go from strength to strength, 
From grace to greater grace : 

From each degree to more and more, 

Till we behold Thy face. 


THE VITAL POINT. 

Jno. 16 : 31.—Jesus said unto them, Do ye now believe? 


HIS is a great practical question, put by 



1 the Saviour himself. He had been speak¬ 
ing to His disciples about His impending de¬ 
parture from the world, and of the import¬ 
ance of that departure in the benefits and privi¬ 
leges He would thus secure for them. Having 
listened to His impressive words, they felt that 
they understood Him better than ever before, 
and could now with greater confidence believe 
in Him. And they answered Him saying, 
“Lo! now speakest Thou plainly. Now are 
we sure that Thou knowest all things. By 
this we believe that Thou comest forth from 
God.” But, in a tone of some complaint at 
their slowness in coming to full faith, or doubt 
whether they had really reached that firmness 
of persuasion which they professed, He put to 
them the question, “ Do ye nozv believe f” 

They evidently thought themselves believers; 
and to a goodly degree they doubtless were be¬ 
lievers; but people are liable to misjudge them- 


THE VITAE POINT. 


159 


selves ; and not many hours passed until these 
very people had forsaken their Master, and the 
boldest of them profanely denied that he ever 
knew Him. After all they were not as firm 
and as unflinching in their confidence and devo¬ 
tion as they professed. There was therefore 
good reason why the Saviour should put the 
question whether their faith was really up to 
the measure they supposed. 

And as we count ourselves believers, we 
need again and again to examine ourselves 
anew on this point, and to question whether we 
do really believe. Perhaps, after all, our faith 
is only a pleasant fancy—a fond imagination— 
a mere profession,—which sharp trial would 
scatter to the winds. And we may readily im¬ 
agine our Saviour speaking to us and asking, 
“Do ye now believe?” 

Nor can there be a more important question 
for us to consider and answer than simply this. 
The most valuable attainment to be reached by 
any one in this world is, to have full, undoubt¬ 
ing and invincible faith in God and His Christ. 
Everything of abiding good depends upon it. 
It is the one point on which true spiritual 
peace and our eternal well-being turns. For 
“ He that believeth on the Son hath everlast- 


i6o 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


ing life: and lie that believeth not the Son 
shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth 
on him.” 

Faith is sometimes weak, and sometimes 
strong; but the stronger the better. Nearly 
every one is sometimes more confident than at 
other times. As Christians, we occasionally 
find ourselves on mountain tops, and then 
again on the lower plains, or even in the deep 
valleys. When faith is clear, vigorous and 
hopeful, there is nothing to compare with the 
comfort and strength it gives to the soul, and 
the chances of final victory are proportionally 
assured; and where there is faith at all, 
although it be weak, it serves to connect us 
with Christ, and will bring us to salvation if 
we only hold on. No man struggling with the 
sea can sink, so long as he keeps a finger on 
the boat; but there is greater certainty of reach¬ 
ing the shore by holding on with both hands. 

Saving faith is an intensely personal thing. 
Christ could not believe for those disciples; 
neither could they believe for one another. 
Others may believe, but they cannot believe for 
us, any more than they can eat, sleep, or 
breathe for us. If we would live, we must eat 
and drink for ourselves; and we must each be- 


THE VITAE POINT. 


161 

lieve for ourselves in order to be among the 
saved. 

It is a thing of great worth to have had be¬ 
lieving fathers and mothers, and pious friends 
and associates. People are safest in the com¬ 
pany of those who fear God. But Judas Iscariot 
was among Christ’s favored disciples; and 
where personal faith is wanting, all social ad¬ 
vantages must pass for nought. Our friends 
and relatives may be very saints; but if we 
ourselves are not believers, it will be all the 
worse for us in the day of judgment. Our own 
souls must be touched, and moved, and brought 
into experimental union with Christ as our own 
personal hope and trust, or eternal life is not 
for us. 

Nor does the inquiry into the reality of our 
faith refer so much to the past as to the present. 
The question is,. “Do ye now believe?’’ Some 
may once have believed, but suffered their con¬ 
fidence to flag and die out. Others may once 
have been very skeptical and indifferent, but 
have since entered upon another sort of life. 
Some may have been very slow to believe, or 
believed with a very wavering faith. But it 
does not matter so much as to what has been, 
as to the condition of things now. Bygones 


ii 


162 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

will not answer for to-day. Promises, good in¬ 
tentions, or even happy experiences of the past, 
if they have not resulted in present faith and 
living devotion, are of no account in the de¬ 
cision of the question the Saviour puts to us. 

Neither are mere frames and feelings of any 
decisive worth in this great matter. Faith is 
not so much a thing of emotion or sudden 
exaltation of feeling, as of fixed, well calcu¬ 
lated and settled principle. Ecstacy or rapture 
is not faith, though it may sometimes go along 
with it. Feelings often change with the 
weather, or with change of surroundings. The 
condition of the body may depress the spirits. 
Nervous melancholy may so over-cloud the soul 
as to throw us into utter doubt whether we 
ever did believe. Genuine faith is a thing of 
the understanding, of mental conviction, and of 
will, which holds on regardless of any partic¬ 
ular enjoyment or rapturous assurance. The 
ants disappear on rainy days, but they are not 
therefore dead. Let the sun shine, and they 
are as visible and active as ever. And although 
our feelings may not always be buoyant and 
joyous, we are not therefore to conclude that 
our faith is dead. True faith can live amid 
sorrow and depression, as well as on the mount 


THE VITAL POINT. 


163 

of beatitude. Our persistent clinging to Christ, 
and our resting on Him alone as our help and 
salvation, is what tells whether we are believers 
or not. 

Jesus presents Himself to us as our divine 
Prophet to teach us, as our great High Priest 
to make atonement for our sins and to inter¬ 
cede for us,—as our King to go before us, fight 
our battles, and ever protect and defend us; 
and when we view and accept Him in these 
high offices, take His word for our guide, trust 
that He has indeed cancelled our sins by His 
blood, and commit ourselves to His keeping 
and guardianship for life and death, we believe 
in Him, whether we realize the joy of it at 
the time or not. Resting our souls upon Him 
as our Saviour, giving to Him the love and 
confidence of our hearts, and joining ourselves 
to Him in living obedience and devotion, we 
belong to the company of them that believe, 
and need only continue in this to be welcomed 
at last into His eternal Kingdom, no matter for 
anything else. 

And if in this our past has been deficient 
and unsatisfactory, or we are compelled to 
acknowledge that our believing has been fitful, 
weak and lacking, the remedy is for us to pray 


164 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

the I<ord to increase our faith, to implore His 
mercy wherein we have been negligent and 
undutiful, to entreat the aid of the Holy Spirit 
to help our infirmities. If we will only think 
seriously upon these momentous matters, and 
set out to live to Him who gave Himself for 
us, He will not fail to bring us in safety to 
His heavenly rest. 

Yes, dear friend, in all your unworthiness and 
need, look to Jesus, and trust in Him, for He 
careth for you, and even waiteth to be gracious. 
Conscious of weakness, cry to Him for strength. 
Troubled and imperiled by reason of past negli¬ 
gence and sin, cast yourself into His open 
arms, and be sure that you will meet with no 
repulse. And whatever doubts may hang over 
your soul, let this be your daily prayer : ‘ 1 Lord, 
I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” 

O the joy of peace with God ! 

Darkness yields to hopeful brightness ! 

Through the merit of Christ’s Blood 
Scarlet sins are changed to whiteness, 

As I surely do believe, 

Jesus, Thou dost me receive. 


AN EFFECTUAL CALL 


Luke 19 : 5.—Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; 
for to-day I must abide at thy house. 

H ERE was first of all, a vast concourse of 
people moving in procession. The L,ord 
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, and many 
were with Him. He was now passing through 
Jericho; and the whole city was moved by 
the tidings of His presence. The population 
flocked together from all sides to get a glimpse 
of Him. The highway was crowded with peo¬ 
ple. Why they came in such eager and jost¬ 
ling multitudes they themselves hardly knew. 
It was the contagion of the hour, and it 
seemed to seize on every body. 

This shows the influence Christ exerts upon 
men aside from any definite acquaintance with 
Him. As it was at Jericho on this occasion, 
so it has been ever since. Even the unbeliev¬ 
ing world is largely influenced by Christianity. 
Institutions, governments, laws, literature, and 
habits of civilized nations, have been more or 
less affected and fashioned by what has gone 
out frrm Christ. 

II. Here was a very unpromising subject of 

165 


166 lententide sermonettes. 

divine grace. That Zaccheus should become a 
convert, and a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, 
was one of the unlikeliest of things. 

He was a publican—“the chief among the 
publicans”—a prince among the worst and 
most detested class in all Palestine. He was 
a head contractor for collecting the Roman 
taxes, and a man who had no scruples about 
taking every advantage of his position to 
wrong and rob. According to his own confes¬ 
sion, he had been a dishonest man. 

“He was rich”—rich from his dishonesties, 
—and for such men there is never much hope. 
Riches, however obtained, are a great encum¬ 
brance to salvation; and riches obtained by 
such means as those to which Zaccheus con¬ 
fessed, argue a sordidness of soul, where it is 
next to impossible for grace to find place. 

Neither had he any desire or purpose to be¬ 
come a Christian. He only had a common 
curiosity to gratify. He simply sought to get 
a view of the man with whose name the whole 
land was ringing. 

And yet, out of all these unpromising cir¬ 
cumstances, Zaccheus became an approved con¬ 
vert—a changed and saved man. 

Here is demonstration of the wonderful power 


AN EFFECTUAL CALL. 


I6 7 


of divine grace. Such a transformation, so 
great, so sudden, so complete, against such 
hindrances on such an unpromising subject, 
evidences a power in Christianity that can only 
be from God, and that is competent for all 
its ends. The Gospel seems very simple, in¬ 
adequate, and to some even ridiculous ; but it 
is the very wisdom and power of God. 

This also shows that no one is too bad to 
be saved. The door of hope is very wide, 
and the power of grace is very mighty; and 
there is no one so sunk in sin or encum¬ 
bered with clogs of crime and ill doing but 
may yet be recovered to righteousness and 
salvation. Christ can save to the uttermost; 
and the vilest of men may yet be saints of 
God if they can only be induced to come, 
and look, and hear, and obey. There are 
hospitals for incurables, and many patients 
for whom there is no more hope in this 
world; but there are no incurables to the 
Gospel, if people will take the remedy. 

III. Here were very great results from 
seemingly very trifling beginnings. Zaecheus 
was influenced by nothing but the curiosity 
of the common crowd. He had no thought 
of becoming a disciple of Christ. He had no 


168 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

idea that there was any salvation for him. 
He was one of those utterly lost ones of 
whom the Saviour spoke;—lost to all hope 
as the teachings of that time were. He just 
went to see, as the listless crowd went. But 
he was small of stature and could not see in 
the midst of such a crowd. He therefore 
climbed up into the overhanging branches of 
a tree by the roadside, thus to secure a view 
of Christ who was to pass that way. He 
even ran in advance of the crowd to make 
sure of his perch. And, upon that little cir¬ 
cumstance, the whole matter of his salvation 
turned. When Jesus came to the place, He 
looked up, and saw Zaccheus, and called to 
him, and bade him come down, and receive 
Him as his guest. And that look and word 
of Jesus did the business. That day salva¬ 
tion came to the house of Zaccheus. 

This shows that lasting spiritual benefit 
may come from very superficial accompani¬ 
ments. This man had only heard what was 
noised about Jesus. He had no thought of 
what it was to be His disciple. Nor was it 
in him to be looking after the salvation of 
his soul. But he had some curiosity, and he 
simply sought to have that curiosity gratified. 



AN EFFECTUAL CALL. 169 

And it proved the instrument of bringing 
him to salvation. 

This shows that very trifling things with¬ 
out a religious aim or intention may prove 
helps to salvation. The forms and habits con¬ 
nected with religion, even if not used with 
thoroughly religious feelings and desires, are 
still not to be despised. To rest in mere ex¬ 
ternals is not piety; but they are necessary; 
—they help to bring the soul and Christ 
face to face,—and no one can tell what 
blessed results may be wrought by the ob¬ 
servance of them. 

It is a mistake to neglect or despise small 
things. Nothing is little or unimportant that 
may put the soul in the way of its salvation. 
In every work there must be a beginning; 
and that beginning may be very insignificant, 
and seem very indifferent; but if it has con¬ 
tinuity, the consequence, after all, may be the 
means of very great results, as in this case. 

IV. Here was also a remarkable illustration 
of the way of salvation. Zaccheus was moved 
by what he heard of Jesus, and sought a per¬ 
sonal knowledge of Him. And this marks the 
first step . Faith cometh by hearing of Christ; 
and coming to Him, may bring eternal life. 


170 EENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

When Zaccheus saw that Christ noticed him, 
and stood looking at him, he was fascinated, 
and smitten with compunction. He could not 
get away from that look. It penetrated him 
through and through. It called up all his 
sins. It seemed to reproach him with every 
ill act of his life. He would have given every¬ 
thing he had at that moment to be able to van¬ 
ish to the other side of Jordan. We can al¬ 
most read his thoughts: “ How came that 
man to discover me? How came he to notice 
so bad a man. How did he get to know my 
ill doings? Zaccheus. There, He even knows 
my name. He is a prophet of God, or how 
would He know me. Woe is me, for He will 
expose me now before all this multitude. 
Would God that I were at the bottom of the 
sea ! ” So felt the smitten sinner under the 
Saviour’s gaze. And this marks another step 
in the way of salvation,—a lively sense of sin, 
and compunction for it. 

Jesus called to Zaccheus, as He calls to all 
where His Gospel comes. It was a word of 
friendly import, as the word of the Gospel is. 
It was a proposal to enter his home and be 
his guest. 

Great must have been the man’s surprise. 



AN EFFECTUAL CALL. 


171 


Could anything have startled him more than 
this? So great a prophet of God to come to 
be guest of him who was accounted so great a 
sinner ! But why disregard the call? It was 
the voice of a wonderful Being. It was the 
voice of a merciful kindness of which he never 
dreamed. And why should he not obey and 
welcome the proposal? He did obey. And 
this marked a third step in the way of mart's 
salvation. Yea, to accept Christ, and welcome 
Him to our hearts and homes, is the crown 
of salvation. And the great practical question 
is, have we so received Him? Have we thus 
answered to His call ? 

God calling yet!—and shall I give 

No heed, but still in bondage live? 

I wait, but He does not forsake; 

He calls me still:—my heart, awake! 

Yield all to Him: in Him confide; 

Where, but with Him, doth peace abide? 

Break loose, let earthly bonds be riven, 

And let the spirit rise to heaven! 


THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER. 


Matt. 12 : 20.—A bruised reed shall he not break, and 
smoking flax shall he not quench. 

HESE were the prophetic words of Isaiah, 



1 here quoted by the Apostle as fulfilled in 
Jesus of Nazareth. They are meant to describe 
the compassionate gentleness, tenderness and 
gracious forbearance of our Saviour toward the 
sinful, the unworthy, and the weak. 

A bruised reed gives the idea of frailty, weak¬ 
ness and worthlessness. It is a fit image of 
what all the dwellers on earth are morally, 
even the best. We are all shattered instru¬ 
ments and damaged reeds, weak in knowledge, 
in love, in faith, in devotion;—so imperfect 
and frail in spiritual condition as scarcely to 
hope for anything but to be broken up and 
cast into the fire. 

Smoking flax , that is the wick of the lamp 
from which the flame has been blown out, 
giving the idea of languishing defection, offen¬ 
sive, and inviting extinguishment. It well de¬ 
scribes people who were once burning and shin¬ 
ing lights, but who have since lost their bright- 


THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER. 173 

ness, fallen from their once flaming zeal, and 
are now dragging a sort of life next thing to 
death, only a disgrace to their profession. 

But what the text affirms is, that the Lord 
Jesus is so gentle, kind, and good, that He 
does not harshly condemn, or give over to 
judgment without further consideration, even 
such as are thus unworthy and weak. His 
mission is rather to seek, heal and strengthen 
them, and, if possible, to develop some good 
in them, notwithstanding their frailty. The 
teaching is, that so long as there is any hope 
of recovering and saving a soul, however way¬ 
ward or far gone in sin, Jesus will not ruth¬ 
lessly cast it off, or at once doom it as it 
deserves. And where there is any spiritual life 
at all, though feeble, shattered, and, inconsist¬ 
ent, He is ready to nurse and cherish it, that 
the flame of genuine faith may be relit, and 
the soul eventually saved. 

The proofs and illustrations of this are ample, 
and within easy reach. 

We know how our Saviour dealt with His 
chosen disciples. Never was a father more 
gentle, patient, or forbearing toward a beloved 
child, than was Jesus toward these faulty and 
oft erring men. Little by little He led them 


174 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

on, never taxing them beyond what they were 
able to bear, and ever encouraging them to 
trust, believe, and hope. With sweetest ten¬ 
derness He drew them to Himself, bearing with 
their slowness, and never wearying in His efforts 
to have them instructed and established in the 
truths and principles of His Kingdom. When 
James and John would have called down fire 
from heaven to resent what they took to be an 
insult to their Lord, He only said to them: 
“ Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are 
of.” When He found them disputing and alien¬ 
ated on the question which of them should be 
the greatest in the kingdom, how gently did 
He inquire into their carnal jangling, and with 
what affecting tenderness did He shame their 
ugly behavior ! With what melting gracious¬ 
ness did He look upon Peter who had so shame¬ 
fully denied Him ! How mercifully did He 
restore the faith of Thomas, when so sullenly 
unbelieving! Even for His murderers He prayed 
that they might be forgiven ! 

And how did He treat poor afflicted souls in 
general, especially when wrestling with the bur¬ 
den of their sins ! The penitential caresses of 
the sinful woman, He did not repulse. He 
ever showed Himself the friend of publicans 


THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER. 1 75 

and sinners, and graciously received them, and 
ate with them. Taking His stand in the midst 
of the great congregation of earth’s heart-stricken 
and soul-burdened population, He sent out mes¬ 
sage to all, as a very God of salvation, saying, 
“ Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And 
when men in their blindness and folly turned 
deaf ears to His calls, His spirit seemed to 
bleed within Him, and in pitying complaint, 
He said, “Ye will not come unto me that ye 
might have life.” 

And what has been the history of His provi¬ 
dence ever since! What sorrowing soul has 
ever sought Him and been turned empty away ! 
The fierce and persecuting Saul of Tarsus prays, 
and Ananias is commissioned to baptize him, 
assure him of forgiveness, and of endowment 
with apostolic honors. Augustine turns from 
his life of debauchery and sin, and is accepted 
as a child of God, and made one of the most 
distinguished fathers of the Church. John New¬ 
ton, trafficking in human flesh and blood, is 
stricken with conviction, asks what he must do 
to be saved, is met with promised pardon, and 
becomes a model of ministerial piety and faith¬ 
fulness. Nor has there ever been one, however 


176 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

unworthy or wicked, that has honestly looked 
to Jesus for mercy, and not found Him good, 
and more gracious than words can tell. 

Nay, we ourselves are living monuments of a 
gracious forbearance, gentleness, and goodness, 
on the part of our Lord, far transcending our 
deserts. Were it not true of Him, as declared 
in the text, none of us would be here to-day 
with our present comforts and hopefulness. 

And how precious is this testimony to the 
character of our blessed Saviour ! There is so 
much that is wrong, disjointed, and out of the 
way, that we could scarcely dare to hope, if 
Jesus were not thus gentle, compassionate, and 
forbearing. 

When we consider the Church of our day ; 
the inroads of the world ; the enfeebled and 
dying faith of many of its members ; the unbe¬ 
lief and heresy that is being preached by men 
who think it a credit to belie the creed they 
have sworn to uphold ; and the distracted, lacer¬ 
ated, rent, and unsatisfactory condition of 
almost everything concerning it; we are some¬ 
times tempted to despair of it, while many 
have become so disheartened, doubtful, and dis¬ 
contented as to withdraw themselves from its 
assemblies and fellowship, and even army them- 


THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER. 177 

selves with its enemies and calumniators. It 
would seem sometimes as if there were no 
hope for it, and as if we were foolish for 
spending time and substance upon such a de¬ 
ranged thing, ready to go under by the weight 
of its own infirmities. But it is the Church of 
Christ, and the boat cannot sink while He is 
in it. It is His Church, and He careth for it. 
And though rent, and damaged, and full of 
weaknesses and imperfections, He can be touched 
with the feeling of its infirmities, and will not 
suffer the gates of hell to prevail against it. 

The Christianity of our times, as practically 
illustrated in the lines and characters of the 
generality of its professors, certainly is very 
feeble and faulty, compared with the clearness 
of faith and earnestness of devotion which 
marked the primitive Christians. But while 
we lament and deplore the shallowness, the 
unbelief, and the utter hollowness of much of 
the so-called religion of our times, there still is 
wheat among the tares. And He who will not 
break the bruised reed, nor quench the smok¬ 
ing wick, will not disown and destroy His 
Church, because it is infirm and weak. An 
ark of salvation it is and will still remain, in 
which some true believers will be found, and 


12 


lyS LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

eternal life attained by those in real earnest to 
secure salvation. 

And when we consider our own weaknesses 
and deficiencies,—the crooked paths we have 
made in our walk through life,—what infirmi¬ 
ties cleave to us at our best,—how frequently 
we have been betrayed into sin,—how misera¬ 
ble are our prayers and poor our endeavors,— 
how much there is to make us ashamed,—we 
might well give up in despair, were it not for 
the assurance that Jesus knows our trials and 
temptations, remembereth that we are dust, can 
allow for our weaknesses, and will not break 
the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking wick. 
If there be anything of God remaining in us,— 
any honest yearnings after a better state of 
things,—we may still hope that He will not 
utterly disown us. 

Once there may have been almost nothing 
left but our baptism, a few crude and neglected 
ideas of sacred things, a little dread of death 
and judgment now and then, and a few prayers 
said with unclean lips in moments of alarm, 
suffering, or danger. Yet, from those unprom¬ 
ising elements have been developed something 
of a better mind, and some prayerful endeavors 
after a better life. And if we will but hope, 


THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER. 179 

and pray, and labor on, trying to do the hea¬ 
venly Father’s will, we may still count that 
our merciful Saviour will bring us at last, by 
His own chosen ways, to the heavenly rest. 
Our efforts may be poor, our progress slow, our 
failings many, but if we will persist and perse¬ 
vere, patiently trusting in Him who gave Him¬ 
self for us, we shall yet come out whole ; for a 
bruised reed He will not break, and the smok¬ 
ing wick He will not quench. 

Our infirmities will not prevent, if only we 
have faith to cleave to Him. 

O Jesus, Comfort of the poor, 

I lift my heart to Thee: 

I know Thy mercies still endure, 

And Thou wilt pity me. 

Lord, Thou didst suffer for my soul, 

Her burdens to remove: 

O make me through Thy sorrows whole, 
Refresh me with Thy love. 


NEARNESS TO JESUS. 


Jno. 13 : 23. —Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom 
one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. 


EARNESS to Jesus, leaning on His bosom, 



1 \| basking in His love,—what a privilege! 
what a blessedness ! 

Our Saviour had His favorites; and He has 
them still. Though loving all the race with a 
love that passeth knowledge, His affection to¬ 
ward some is more particular and precious. 
He loved Mary, and Martha, and Razarus more 
ardently and intimately perhaps than any other 
family, and of all His disciples He showed 
such a special affection for John that he came 
to be known as “the disciple that Jesus loved.” 

Why John was awarded this special nearness 
to his Lord, is not stated ; but we may be sure 
that there was something in him thus to enlist 
the Saviour’s special affection. He was the 
youngest of the disciples, yet one of the first to 
join himself to Christ. He was a man of warm 
and fervid temperament, very loving and very 
energetic, and his ardent soul was wholly and 
unchangeably given to his Lord. And because 


180 


NEARNESS TO JESUS. l8l 

of these high qualities Jesus loved him, gave 
him chief place as they reclined at meals, and 
honored him most of all. 

It is a great and blessed thing to have a 
friend—some one on whom to lean—one soul 
who can be approached with freedom and fully 
trusted. We may think ourselves strong and 
independent, but times come when the heart 
longs for sympathy, and a friendly countenance 
is a joy to the soul. It is hardly possible to 
conceive of a more wretched solitude than that 
of a friendless man, with no one to care for, 
and no one to care for him. 

But, to have friends, we must show ourselves 
friendly. It was John’s confiding and earnest 
devotion that secured for him the special affec¬ 
tion of his Lord. And if we would have 
Christ to lean on, we must have and show 
what Christ can approve and honor. 

To enjoy the friendship of Christ, we must 
learn of Christ, have a proper appreciation of 
Him, and come to Him. John had had the 
Saviour pointed out to him as “the Lamb of 
God that taketh away the sin of the world ; ” 
and from that moment he inquiringly followed 
Him, and sought to know where He dwelt. 
And when the word came “Come and see,” he 


182 


lententide sermonettes. 


went, and saw; and there began the friendship 
which never faltered, and never waned. If we 
care not for Christ, feel no interest in Him, 
and make no earnest move to come to Him, 
near fellowship with Him we can never enjoy. 
We cannot lean on one whom we have never 
learned to know, appreciate and approach. 

True friendship likewise means a certain 
affinity of mind and heart. We must learn to 
approve what Christ approves, and love what 
He loves, and have our likes and aims run in 
the same channel with His, to be fully united 
to Him. Only this moral correspondence can 
bring us into nearness to Him. The pure can¬ 
not be in loving sympathy with the corrupt. 
Light cannot dwell with darkness, nor good 
with^evil ; and fellowship with Jesus means in¬ 
ward accord with Him. 

Leaning on Him is an attitude of love and 
trust. In John’s case, it was a holy, undoubting 
and childlike confidence. * Faith worketh love, 
and love emboldened his faith. Coming to 
Jesus, we must lovingly confide in Him; trust 
in Him; and on Him set our hearts. And a 
sad thing it is not to love the Lord Jesus. 

And an attitude of loving confidence is also 
one of readiness to listen. It puts the disciple’s 


NEARNESS TO JESUS. 183 

ear close to the Master’s lips; and such a near¬ 
ness could not be where there is an unwilling 
or disobedient spirit. It was as if eager to 
learn the Master’s thoughts, to feel the beating 
of His heart, and to do whatsoever He might 
wish. Indeed, there is no true love, where 
there is no readiness to serve. 

But this leaning on the Saviour’s bosom im¬ 
plied a corresponding feeling on the Master’s 
side. It told of the Master’s loving regard for 
His disciple. Not that Christ loved John with 
any higher love than that with which He loved 
Peter and other disciples ; but He had a com¬ 
placent delight in this disciple, and so gave 
him the favored place. Some one had to have 
it, and John got it. Others loved and leaned 
on Jesus, and He loved them too ; but in every 
class there is one that stands the highest with¬ 
out discredit to the rest. Nay, the same privi¬ 
lege, in essence, is as fully open for every 
ardent and loving believer, as it was for John. 
And wherever there is a true leaning on Christ, 
there is the disciple that Jesus loves. 

And Christ’s loving friendship means guar¬ 
dianship, protection and defence. Satan will 
in vain attack those whom the Saviour takes 
to His bosom. As- a hen gathereth her brood 


184 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

under her wings, and there holds them in 
warmth and safety, so doth Christ gather His 
people to Himself. He stretcheth over them 
the broad wings of His salvation, assembles 
them in His Church, feeds them with His 
word and ordinances, and delivers them from 
the power of the enemy. Did we only lean 
more on Jesus, we would suffer less from pierc¬ 
ing thorns, and bleeding feet, and sad mis¬ 
fortunes. Yea, and much happier would be 
many sorrowing homes, much easier many sick 
beds, much more peaceful many distracted and 
torn hearts! 

We need then to ask ourselves are we lean¬ 
ing on Jesus? If not, on whom or what are 
we leaning? We need to think what most 
commands our affections and enlists our hearts. 
Achan thought to enrich himself by appropriat¬ 
ing the wealth he found in Jericho. Hainan’s 
heart was set on worldly honor. Balaam cov¬ 
eted the wages of unrighteousness. But the 
end of all of them was disappointment and 
ruin. In Jesus is our only hope and abiding 
consolation; and to Him we are invited, with 
promise that He will give us rest. To Him 
then let us ever seek; and on Him let us lean. 


THE MARKED PEOPLE. 


Ezek. 9: 6.—But come not near any man upon whom is 
the mark. 

E ZBKIEIv was one of the greatest Hebrew 
prophets, who had many strange experi¬ 
ences, and was favored with many marvelous 
visions. Although at this time in the land of 
the Chaldeans, he was miraculously caught up 
by the Spirit, and in prophetic vision set down 
in Jerusalem, whither many of his people had 
returned. He was there shown the iniquitous 
doings that were in vogue, and the purpose of 
Jehovah respecting those transgressors. And, 
having described the abominations that pre¬ 
vailed, the judgment is ordered. 

The men who had police charge of the city 
were commanded to come near, each “with his 
destroying weapon in his hand,” to make an 
end of those vile transgressors and their fami¬ 
lies. 

But, before the work of destruction was to 
commence, one clothed in linen, with a writer’s 
inkhorn by his side, was sent to set a mark on 

185 


86 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


the foreheads of those who lamented these pre¬ 
vailing abominations. That office fulfilled., the 
command was given to the armed men to go 
through the city, and smite and slay without 
pity old and young, both maids and little chil¬ 
dren, and women. But this special restriction 
was laid upon them, not to come near any one 
upon whom was the mark. 

Sundry important particulars are thus brought 
to our view, some of which we note for our edi¬ 
fication and profit. 

I. It is here shown us that God has a people 
of His own in this alien and wicked world. 

We live in very degenerate times. Evil and 
unbelief seem to be greatly on the increase. 
The impulses of wicked lust and selfishness are 
everywhere taking possession of men and driv¬ 
ing them to all manner of rebellion against 
God and good order. We hardly know any 
more whom we can safely trust. No educa¬ 
tion, no ties of affection, no honorable standing 
among men, and no laws of God, seem suffi¬ 
cient any more to restrain people from the 
most dastard of crimes. The Bible and its 
truths are being scouted and despised by mul¬ 
titudes. Infidelity rears itself aloft in society, 
in the seats of learning, and even in many 


THE MARKED PEOPLE. 187 

pulpits. And it would seem as if faith and 
godliness were dying out of the earth. 

But, let us not be too desponding. There 
are still some green spots in the desert. There 
are yet some whom God hath reserved unto 
Himself, who have not bowed the knee to 
Baal. The mass may seem but vile earth; but 
there is gold in it. There was a Noah among 
the wicked generations that perished by the 
flood; there was a Lot even in Sodom ; there 
was a Simeon and an Anna among the corrupt 
legions who defiled the Lord’s courts in the 
Saviour’s time ; and the Lord still has an ac¬ 
knowledged people even in these degenerate 
times. The voice of acceptable prayer and praise 
has not been effectually silenced. There are still 
many precious, praying sons and daughters of 
Zion, whom God esteemeth as the apple of His 
eye, and hath engraven upon the palms of His 
hand. 

II. It is here shown us that God's true people 
are a marked people. As they are the salt, the 
light, the preservation, the ornament, and the 
defence of mankind, they must necessarily have 
about them something distinguishing. 

They are but men, of like passions with 
other men, not superhuman creatures. But still 


188 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


they are in some respects as distinct as if they 
had been born in some higher realm. They 
are marked and sealed amidst the world in 
which they dwell;—marked in the counsels of 
the great Jehovah, and sealed by His Spirit unto 
the day of redemption. 

They are marked in their thorough conver¬ 
sion from the vanities of the world, having 
been begotten again of an incorruptible seed, of 
the word of God, by the Holy Ghost. They 
are marked by their increasing separation, 
through the Spirit, from the defilements of sin, 
and from the secret and the assembly of the 
ungodly. They are marked by the manifest 
fruits of the Spirit—the holy graces which 
spring from His sanctifying operations. They 
are marked by the prayers that ascend night 
and day from their hearts to heaven—cries which 
come into the ears of the Lord, bringing down 
His blessings upon sinful men, and turning 
away His anger from them. They are marked 
in their careful observance of all the appointed 
ordinances of His house, and their desire in all 
things to know and do His will. They are 
marked bv their continuance in the commun¬ 
ion of His Church ; walking in the light of His 
word; and honoring Him in their glad con- 


THE MARKED PEOPLE. 189 

formity to all His laws. They are marked, not 
merely by their profession, but by the manifest 
and undisputed exhibition of that holiness of 
character and purity of life, without which no 
man can see God. 

They sigh and they cry for all the abomina¬ 
tions that be done. They grieve over the way¬ 
wardness of men, and over the dishonors that 
are everywhere heaped upon the name of their 
King. The wickedness and the unholiness of 
the earth is a burden and sorrow to their hearts. 
Like Jeremiah they weep in secret places. 

Nor do they sigh in idleness, or weep the 
tears of mere indolent distress. Busy are they 
and studious, to hinder the progress of abound¬ 
ing iniquity. Whatever of good is in their 
power they do. No proper effort is left by 
them unused to restrain wickedness, and bring 
men to repentance. They bear testimony against 
sin. They stand out openly for God, and for 
the truth of God. And in all these respects 
they are a marked people. 

III. It still further appears from the text, 
that God's true people are a secure people. 
Amid all the trials and judgments which may 
come upon the guilty world, they are safe. 
Let the men with the slaughter-weapons come, 


190 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


they shall not be able to come near any upon 
whom is the mark. God knoweth them that 
are His, and He has promised to be with them 
in -the time of trouble, and to keep them from 
the evil day. When the flood came, there was 
an ark of salvation ready for Noah. When the 
destroying angel flapped his black wings over 
the first-born of Egypt, he turned away from 
the blood-stained lintels of the homes of God’s 
believing Israel. When the walls of Jericho 
fell, burying its corrupt inhabitants in blood 
and ruins, Rahab perished not with them. 
When the beautiful Jerusalem was destroyed 
by the war-power of the Romans, not a Chris¬ 
tian perished in that dreadful destruction. And, 
amid all the scathing fires of God’s judgments, 
the people with the mark that sigh and that 
cry for the abominations that are done, are safe. 

Eet temptation come, and sweep away mil¬ 
lions of the unbelieving, the true Israel of God 
shall find a way of escape. Eet afflictions come, 
and overwhelm the wicked, and assail even the 
homes and the bodies of the saints; to them 
that love God, they shall be messengers of 
good, working out for them a far more exceed¬ 
ing and eternal weight of glory. 

Eet death itself lay its pale hand upon them ; 


THE MARKED PEOPLE. 


I 9 I 

even when they pass through the dark valley 
they fear no evil, for God is with them ; His 
rod and His staff, they comfort them. 

Dear friends, no one will ever lose by being 
true to God, and faithful in His service. When 
the wicked are cut off, they shall see it. Their 
salvation is assured in Jesus. They may suffer 
on earth, but shall have glory and honor in 
heaven. They may be laughed at for their 
prayers and religious solicitude and honest deal¬ 
ing; but a better portion awaits them. Their 
sighing and crying will not be unheeded or in 
vain. It will be a comforting thing at the end 
of life to look back upon a pilgrimage marked 
with the faith, hopes and prayers of the good. 
Then the bed of death will have no remorseful 
anguish. Then no pangs of unforgiven sin 
will fester in the soul, nor fears of condemna¬ 
tion in the judgment overwhelm it. No angry 
spirits shall vex us in our departure from the 
earth, nor scorching flames turn our immortal¬ 
ity into misery. To every messenger of de¬ 
struction the word from heaven is : “ Come not 
near any man upon whom is the mark,” and 
life eternal becomes our blessed inheritance. 

And surely this is something worth our pains, 
and toils, and prayers. To stand when myriads 


192 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


fall—to live when thousands die—to float while 
so many sink—to find our landing on the mount 
of God when the world of the guilty and un¬ 
believing has gone down to rise no more,— 
surely is worth living for, and laboring for, 
however little sympathy we may get in our 
endeavors. So then, let us pray on, and labor 
on, knowing that in due season we shall reap 
if we faint not. 

To Thee, Lord, in sorrow’s dark hour, 

My soul breathes her penitent sigh ; 

She leans on Thy promise, Thy grace, and Thy power, 
And hopes,—for the Saviour is nigh. 

Let mercy the tempest dispel 
Where faith’s feeble taper would die ; 

And plant me, where safely the justified dwell, 

On the Rock that is higher than I. 


ENGRAVED IN HEAVEN. 


Isa. 49: 16.—Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms 
of my hands. 



HEN God says, “Behold” there is al- 


V V ways something of moment to be 
considered. And a very marvellous announce¬ 
ment is that to which He thus directs us here. 

It was not an uncommon thing in ancient 
times for people to have pictures of dear 
friends drawn indellibly upon their hands, 
where they could always see them. And so 
the Eord here declares that He carries His 
people graven upon His hands. 

This means that He has them constantly in 
His remembrance, and always in His sight. 
One can never forget or fail to notice, what 
has become so much a part of one’s own self. 
And if at any time one so graven on the hands 
should drop out of mind, he would constantly 
be recalled by these ever-present pictures. 
People sometimes tie cords or threads upon 
their fingers as aids to memory. They think 
they can keep a thing in mind better, by put¬ 
ting some remembrancer on the hand, to call 


13 


194 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

attention to it. How perfect then must be 
God’s remembrance of His people, as He carries 
their images graven on His hands! 

Christians sometimes feel as if God had for¬ 
gotten them. Their lot is so adverse. Their 
prayers are unanswered. Their trials are so 
great. Their souls are left in so much per¬ 
plexity and darkness. They have so little 
peace and comfort in their religion. And they 
are tempted to think there is no God, or that 
it is useless to try to serve Him. It was so 
that Israel was tempted to conclude. But Je¬ 
hovah’s answer was, No; He had graven them 
on the palms of His hands,—not only on one 
hand, but upon both , so that if one chanced to 
be out of view, the other would still keep them 
before Him. And whatever we may think or 
feel in the case, if we be Christians at all, we 
may be sure that we are ever affectionately re¬ 
membered in heaven. We may lack the proofs 
of it in what we experience on earth, but we 
are always in the divine mind. 

The same also means, that God does nothing 
without His people being in it. The hands 
are the instruments of work; and if we be 
graven upon God’s hands, we are in whatever 
God does. By us, and with us, and for us, 


ENGRAVED IN HEAVEN. I95 

He operates. He performs no work apart from 
us, or without considering us; for we are 
graven on His hands. All His works of crea¬ 
tion, providence, and grace, have us and our 
good in them, just as His hands are in them; 
and He carries us with Him in all His doings, 
whether in heaven or on earth. 

The conception is wonderful. We can hardly 
take in the deep implications. But so He tells 
us that it is. 

The same also means great pains in our be¬ 
half. To engrave a likeness in the palms of 
one’s hands, is a sore process, to which no one 
would submit but out of the most loving and 
tender regard. But such is the length, breadth, 
depth, height, and surpassing love of Christ, 
that He would rather have His own flesh 
wounded, and His own members marred, than 
not have His people inseparably joined to Him¬ 
self. He might carve our images on precious 
stones, or on tablets of silver and gold, and thus 
show wonderful interest in our behalf. But 
gold, silver and precious stones cannot feel. 
Brass, and iron, and lead, and rock, may be 
cut, and receive upon them the outlines of 
one’s lineaments ; but they have no sensibility 
—no feeling. To engrave on flesh, and in the 


196 LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 

most tender and sensitive parts of it, is quite 
another matter. This means suffering. And 
great has been the bleeding love and patient 
endurance of our Saviour thus to cut and 
bruise His own tender flesh to make us part of 
His living self. 

An eastern queen so loved her husband, that, 
when he died, she was not satisfied to have 
his body rest in a royal mausoleum. She had 
it burned to ashes, and mingled them with her 
daily drink, that she herself might be his sepul¬ 
chre. But she soon died, and sepulchre and 
tenant perished together. But the ever-living 
God makes the memorial of His people part of 
His imperishable self. He is great beyond our 
comprehension. His is an empire over which 
no wing of thought or ray of light can reach. 
He fills immensity and eternity with the 
grandeur of His all-perfect Being. But, with 
all the vastness of His glory, He does not dis¬ 
dain to engrave His people on His hands, and 
to keep even the feeblest and lowliest of them 
in the tender love of His imperishable regard. 
Yea, the memorial of them is dug in upon the 
hands of His eternal power and Godhead, 
where it never can be effaced. 

And it is the same for the great and small 


ENGRAVED IN HEAVEN. 


197 


alike. As the mountain sustains, nourishes 
and protects the tiny blade, and most modest 
floweret planted among its everlasting rocks, so 
the Lord Almighty hears, upholds, comforts, 
and loves all His people. Even His little 
weak ones that can scarcely lift up their heads, 
or creep, much less walk alone, as well as 
strong saints and heroes in His armies, He 
neither forgets nor despises; for He has them 
all engraved upon His hands. 

See, then, dear Christian friend, what a sub¬ 
lime consolation is vouchsafed to you in this 
assurance of God. You are sometimes dis¬ 
couraged, doubtful, and troubled as to your 
standing in His sight. You cannot see that 
the great Almighty has any particular care for 
you, or can have for one so unworthy and of 
so little account. You feel yourself so poor a 
saint and so much a sinner, that you can 
hardly dare believe that He can have any re¬ 
gard for you. But you do Him great dishonor, 
and needlessly afflict your soul. This one text 
should be enough to lift you quite out of all 
such sad questionings. God Almighty here 
says to you, “My child, behold, I have graven 
thee on the palms of My hands. How could I 
forget or neglect thee ? ’ ’ And why should you 


LENTENTIDE SERMONETTES. 


doubt His word? L,ook at it, and see what a 
memorial of you He ever has before Him. 
What are your earthly trials weighed against 
such gracious assurances. Is there no joyous 
inspiration for you in having yourself written 
in the very hands of God ? It is well to re¬ 
member unworthiness and sin ; but why forget 
and discount the mercy and goodness of the 
Father in heaven? Jehovah, and His almigliti- 
ness, must perish, before harm can come to 
those who humbly and obediently trust to His 
mercy; for He hath graven them on the palms 
of His hands. 

Lord, Thou art good, and Thou alone; 

No other good let me desire; 

Be Thou my portion, Thou mine own, 

Nor let me dream of blessing higher. 

So shall my every power to Thee 
In thankful praise forever rise, 

And my whole soul and body be 
One, holy, living sacrifice. 





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